Catadioptric projection objective

ABSTRACT

A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object plane of the projection objective onto an image plane of the projection objective has a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object plane into a first intermediate image; a second objective part including at least one concave mirror for imaging the first intermediate imaging into a second intermediate image; and a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate imaging onto the image plane; wherein the projection objective has a maximum lens diameter D max , a maximum image field height Y′, and an image side numerical aperture NA; wherein COMP1=D max /(Y′·NA 2 ) and wherein the condition COMP1&lt;10 holds.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation-in-part application of International Application PCT/EP2005/007431, filed Jul. 8, 2005, which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Applications 60/587,504, filed Jul. 14, 2004, 60/591,775, filed Jul. 27, 2004, 60/612,823, filed Sep. 24, 2004, 60/617,674, filed Oct. 13, 2004, 60/654,950, filed Feb. 23, 2005, and is further a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/035,103, filed Jan. 14, 2005, which claims benefit of the first four US Provisional Applications listed above as well as 60/536,248, filed Jan. 14, 2004 The disclosures of each of these related applications are hereby incorporated by reference into the present continuation-in-part application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern arranged in an object surface onto an image surface.

2. Description of the Related Art

Projection objectives of that type are employed on projection exposure systems, in particular wafer scanners or wafer steppers, used for fabricating semiconductor devices and other types of microdevices and serve to project patterns on photomasks or reticles, hereinafter referred to generically as “masks” or “reticles,” onto an object having a photosensitive coating with ultrahigh resolution on a reduced scale.

In order create even finer structures, it is sought to both increase the image-end numerical aperture (NA) of the projection objective to be involved and employ shorter wavelengths, preferably ultraviolet light with wavelengths less than about 260 nm.

However, there are very few materials, in particular, synthetic quartz glass and crystalline fluorides, that are sufficiently transparent in that wavelength region available for fabricating the optical elements required. Since the Abbè numbers of those materials that are available lie rather close to one another, it is difficult to provide purely refractive systems that are sufficiently well color-corrected (corrected for chromatic aberrations).

In lithography, a flat (planar) image is essential to expose planar substrates, such as semiconductor wafers. However, generally the image surface of an optical system is curved, and the degree of curvature is determined by the Petzval sum. The correction of the Petzval sum is becoming more important in view of the increasing demands to project large object fields on planar surfaces with increased resolution.

One approach for obtaining a flat image surface and good color-correction is the use of catadioptric systems, which combine both refracting elements, such as lenses, and reflecting elements, such as mirror, preferably including at least one concave mirror. While the contributions of positive-powered and negative-powered lenses in an optical system to overall power, surface curvature and chromatic aberrations are opposite to each other, a concave mirror has positive power like a positive-powered lens, but the opposite effect on surface curvature without contributing to chromatic aberrations.

Further, the high prices of the materials involved and limited availability of crystalline calcium fluoride in sizes large enough for fabricating large lenses represent problems. Measures that will allow reducing the number and sizes of lenses and simultaneously contribute to maintaining, or even improving, imaging fidelity are thus desired.

Catadioptric projection objectives having at least two concave mirrors have been proposed to provide systems with good color correction and moderate lens mass requirements. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,600,608 B1 discloses a catadioptric projection objective having a first, purely refractive objective part for imaging a pattern arranged in the object plane of the projection objective into a first intermediate image, a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image and a third objective part for imaging the second intermediate image directly, that is without a further intermediate image, onto the image plane. The second objective part is a catadioptric objective part having a first concave mirror with a central bore and a second concave mirror with a central bore, the concave mirrors having the mirror faces facing each other and defining an intermirror space or catadioptric cavity in between. The first intermediate image is formed within the central bore of the concave mirror next to the object plane, whereas the second intermediate image is formed within the central bore of the concave mirror next to the object plane. The objective has axial symmetry and provides good color correction axially and laterally. However, since the reflecting surfaces of the concave mirrors are interrupted at the bores, the pupil of the system is obscured.

The Patent EP 1 069 448 B1 discloses another catadioptric projection objective having two concave mirrors facing each other. The concave mirrors are part of a first catadioptric objective part imaging the object onto an intermediate image positioned adjacent to a concave mirror. This is the only intermediate image, which is imaged to the image plane by a second, purely refractive objective part. The object as well as the image of the catadioptric imaging system are positioned outside the intermirror space defined by the mirrors facing each other. Similar systems having two concave mirrors, a common straight optical axis and one intermediate image formed by a catadioptric imaging system and positioned besides one of the concave mirrors are disclosed in Japanese patent application JP 2002208551 A and US patent application US 2002/00241 A1.

European patent application EP 1 336 887 (corresponding to US 2004/0130806 A1) discloses catadioptric projection objectives having one common straight optical axis and, in that sequence, a first catadioptric objective part for creating a first intermediate image, a second catadioptric objective part for creating a second intermediate image from the first intermediate image, and a refractive third objective part forming the image from the second intermediate image. Each catadioptric system has two concave mirrors facing each other. The intermediate images lie outside the intermirror spaces defined by the concave mirrors. Concave mirrors are positioned optically near to pupil surfaces closer to pupil surfaces than to the intermediate images of the projection objectives.

International Patent application WO 2004/107011 A1 discloses catadioptric projection objectives having one common straight optical axis and two or more intermediate images and suitable for immersion lithography with numerical apertures up to NA=1.2. At least one concave mirror is positioned optically near to a pupil surface closer to that pupil surface than to an intermediate images of the projection objective.

In the article “Nikon Projection Lens Update” by T. Matsuyama, T. Ishiyama and Y. Ohmura, presented by B. W. Smith in: Optical Microlithography XVII, Proc. of SPIE 5377.65 (2004) a design example of a catadioptric projection lens is shown, which is a combination of a conventional dioptric DUV system and a 6-mirror EUV catoptric system inserted between lens groups of the DUV system. A first intermediate image is formed behind the third mirror of the catoptric (purely reflective) group upstream of a convex mirror. The second intermediate image is formed by a purely reflective (catoptric) second objective part. The third objective part is purely refractive featuring negative refractive power at a waist of minimum beam diameter within the third objective part for Petzval sum correction.

Japanese patent application JP 2003114387 A and international patent application WO 01/55767 A disclose catadioptric projection objectives having one common straight optical axis, a first catadioptric objective part for forming an intermediate image and a second catadioptric objective part for imaging the intermediate image onto the image plane of this system. Concave and convex mirrors are used in combination.

The article “Camera view finder using tilted concave mirror erecting elements” by D. DeJager, SPIE. Vol. 237 (1980) p. 292-298 discloses camera view finders comprising two concave mirrors as elements of a 1:1 telescopic erecting relay system. The system is designed to image an object at infinity into a real image, which is erect and can be viewed through an eyepiece. Separate optical axes of refractive system parts upstream and downstream of the catoptric relay system are parallel offset to each other. In order to build a system having concave mirrors facing each other mirrors must be tilted. The authors conclude that physically realizable systems of this type have poor image quality.

International patent applications WO 92/05462 and WO 94/06047 and the article “Innovative Wide-Field Binocular Design” in OSA/SPIE Proceedings (1994) pages 389ff disclose catadioptric optical systems especially for binoculars and other viewing instruments designed as inline system having a single, unfolded optical axis. Some embodiments have a first concave mirror having an object side mirror surface arranged on one side of the optical axis and a second concave mirror having a mirror surface facing the first mirror and arranged on the opposite side of the optical axis such that the surface curvatures of the concave mirrors define and intermirror space. A front refractive group forms a first intermediate image near the first mirror and a second intermediate image is formed outside of the space formed by the two facing mirrors. A narrow field being larger in a horizontal direction than in a vertical direction is arranged offset to the optical axis. The object side refractive group has a collimated input and the image side refractive group has a collimated output and entrance and exit pupils far from telecentric are formed. The pupil shape is semi-circular unlike pupil surfaces in lithographic projection lenses, which have to be circular and centered on the optical axis.

The PCT application WO 01/044682 A1 discloses catadioptric UV imaging systems for wafer inspection having one concave mirror designed as Mangin mirror.

Catadioptric projection objectives consisting of a catadioptric imaging subsystem having one single concave mirror and arranged between an entry side and an exit side refractive imaging subsystem (so-calles R-C-R systems) are disclosed, for example, in U.S. application with Ser. No. 60/573,533 filed on May 17, 2004 by the applicant. Other examples of R-C-R-systems are shown in US 2003/0011755, WO 03/036361 or US 2003/0197946.

US patent application with title “Catadioptric Projection Objective” filed by the applicant on Jan. 14, 2005 (based on U.S. provisional applications 60/536,248 filed on Jan. 14, 2004; U.S. 60/587,504 filed Jul. 14, 2004; 60/617,674 filed Oct. 13, 2004; 60/591,775 filed Jul. 27, 2004; and 60/612,823 filed Sep. 24, 2004) discloses catadioptric projection objectives having very high NA and suitable for immersion lithography at NA>1 with maximum values NA=1.2. The projection objectives comprise: a first objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object plane into a first intermediate image, a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate imaging into a second intermediate image, and a third objective part for imaging the second intermediate imaging directly onto the image plane. The second objective part includes a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and a second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface, the concave mirror faces facing each other and defining an intermirror space. All concave mirrors are positioned optically remote from pupil surfaces. The system has potential for very high numerical apertures at moderate lens mass consumption. The full disclosure of this document and the priority documents thereof is incorporated into the present application by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of the invention to provide a catadioptric projection objective suitable for use in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) range having potential for very high image side numerical aperture which may be extended to values allowing immersion lithography at numerical apertures NA>1. It is another object to provide catadioptric projection objectives that can be build with relatively small amounts of optical material. It is yet another object to provide compact high-aperture catadioptric projection objectives having moderate size.

As a solution to these and other objects the invention, according to one formulation, provides a catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object surface of the projection objective onto an image surface of the projection objective comprising:

a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object plane into a first intermediate image;

a second objective part including at least one concave mirror for imaging the first intermediate imaging into a second intermediate image;

a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate imaging onto the image plane; wherein:

the projection objective has a maximum lens diameter D_(max), a maximum image field height Y′, and an image side numerical aperture NA; wherein COMP1=D _(max)/(Y′·NA ²) and wherein the following condition holds COMP1<10

Generally, the dimensions of projection objectives tend to increase dramatically as the image side numerical aperture NA is increased. Empirically it has been found that the maximum lens diameter D_(max) tends to increase stronger than linear with increase of NA according to D_(max)˜NA^(k), where k>1. A value k=2 is an approximation used for the purpose of this application. Further, it has been found that the maximum lens diameter D_(max) increases in proportion to the image field size (represented by the image field height Y′). A linear dependency is assumed for the purpose of the application. Based on these considerations a first compactness parameter COMP1 is defined as: COMP1=D _(max)/(Y′·NA ²).

It is evident that, for given values of image field height and numerical aperture, the first compaction parameter COMP1 should be as small as possible if a compact design is desired.

Considering the overall material consumption necessary for providing a projection objective, the absolute number of lenses, N_(L) is also relevant. Typically, systems with a smaller number of lenses are preferred to systems with larger numbers of lenses. Therefore, a second compactness parameter COMP2 is defined as follows: COMP2=COMP1·N _(L).

Again, small values for COMP2 are indicative of compact optical systems.

Further, projection objectives according to the invention have at least three objective parts for imaging an entry side field plane into an optically conjugate exit side field plane, where the imaging objective parts are concatenated at intermediate images. Typically, the number of lenses and the overall material necessary to build a projection objective will increase the higher the number N_(OP) of imaging objective parts of the optical system is. It is desirable to keep the average number of lenses per objective part, N_(L)/N_(OP), as small as possible. Therefore, a third compactness parameter COMP3 is defined as follows: COMP3=COMP1·N _(L) /N _(OP).

Again, projection objectives with low optical material consumption will be characterized by small values of COMP3.

A value COMP1<10 indicates a very compact design. Even values of COMP1<9.6 are obtained in some embodiments. In some embodiments the low compactness is obtained although the numerical aperture is larger than 1.2 (i.e. NA>1.2). Embodiments with NA=1.3 or NA=1.35 are possible and allow ultra-high resolution immersion lithography.

In some embodiments, low values for the second compactness parameter can be obtained. In some embodiments COMP2<260 and/or COMP2<240 is obtained. Embodiments with COMP2<220 are possible.

Alternatively, or in addition, low values for the third compactness parameter COMP3 are possible. In some embodiments COMP3<80, and lower values of COMP3<70 are also possible.

In preferred embodiments, a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and at least one second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface are arranged in the second objective part; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; and all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface.

In these embodiments a circular pupil centered around the optical axis is be provided in a centered optical system. Two or more concave mirrors in the system parts contributing to forming the second intermediate image are provided, where the used area of the concave mirrors deviates significantly from an axial symmetric illumination. In preferred embodiments exactly two concave mirrors are provided and are sufficient for obtaining excellent imaging quality and very high numerical aperture. Systems having one common unfolded (straight) optical axis can be provided which facilitate manufacturing, adjustment and integration into photolithographic exposure systems. No planar folding mirrors are necessary. However, one or more planar folding mirrors could be utilized to obtain more compact designs.

All concave mirrors are arranged “optically remote” from pupil surfaces which means that they are arranged outside an optical vicinity of a pupil surface. They may be arranged optically nearer to field surfaces than to pupil surfaces. Preferred positions optically remote from a pupil surface (i.e. outside an optical vicinity of a pupil surface) may be characterized by the ray height ratio H=h_(C)/h_(M)>1, where h_(C) is the height of a chief ray and h_(M) is the height of a marginal ray of the imaging process. The marginal ray height h_(M) is the height of a marginal ray running from an inner field point (closest to the optical axis) to the edge of an aperture stop, whereas the chief ray height h_(C) is the height of a chief ray running from an outermost field point (farthest away from the optical axis) parallel to or at small angle with respect to the optical axis and intersecting the optical axis at a pupil surface position where an aperture stop may be positioned. With other words: all concave mirrors are in positions where the chief ray height exceeds the marginal ray height.

A position “optically remote” from a pupil surface is a position where the cross sectional shape of the light beam deviates significantly from the circular shape found in a pupil surface or in an immediate vicinity thereto. The term “light beam” as used here describes the bundle of all rays running from the object surface to the image surface. Mirror positions optically remote from a pupil surface may be defined as positions where the beam diameters of the light beam in mutually perpendicular directions orthogonal to the propagation direction of the light beam deviate by more than 50% or 100% from each other. In other words, illuminated areas on the concave mirrors may have a shape having a form strongly deviating from a circle and similar to a high aspect ratio rectangle corresponding to a preferred field shape in lithographic projection objectives for wafer scanners. Therefore, small concave mirrors having a compact rectangular or near rectangular shape significantly smaller in one direction than in the other may be used. A high aperture light beam can therefore be guided through the system without vignetting at mirror edges.

Throughout the specification, the term “objective part” designates an imaging subsystem of the projection objective capable of imaging an object in an object surface of that subsystem into an image surface of the subsystem optically conjugated to the object surface of the subsystem. The object imaged by a subsystem (or objective part) may be the object in the object surface of the projection objective, or an intermediate image.

Wherever the terms “upstream” or “downstream” are used in this specification these terms refer to relative positions along the optical path of a light beam running from the object plane to the image plane of the projection objective. Therefore, a position upstream of the second intermediate image is a position optically between the object plane and the second intermediate image.

The term “intermediate image” generally refers to a “paraxial intermediate image” formed by a perfect optical system and located in a surface optically conjugated to the object surface. Therefore, wherever reference is made to a location or position of an intermediate image, the axial location of this surface optically conjugated to the object surface is meant.

According to another aspect of the invention, a catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object surface of the projection objective onto an image surface of the projection objective comprises:

a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object surface into a first intermediate image;

a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image;

a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image surface;

wherein a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and at least one second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface are arranged upstream of the second intermediate image; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface; the first objective part has a first number N1_(AS) of aspheric lenses; the third objective part has a second number N3_(AS) of aspheric lenses; an aspheric lens ratio ASR=N1_(AS)/N3_(AS) is smaller than 1; and an image side numerical aperture NA is larger than 1.2.

Although it would be desired from a manufacturing point of view to have lenses with spherical lens surfaces only, it appears that a certain number of aspheric lenses are required to obtain sufficient correction of image aberrations. It has been found that in designs where the third objective part has more aspheric lenses than the first objective part have potential for obtaining a good correction status without increasing the overall number, N_(AS), of aspheric lenses in the projection objective above a critical limit where the manufacturing of aspheric lenses becomes a critical issue due to the high number of aspheric lenses to be manufactured.

In some embodiments the first objective part has spherical lenses only such that N1_(AS)=0. All-spherical refractive objective parts are particularly easy to manufacture. An all-spherical first objective part may be combined with a third objective part having one or more aspheric lenses, for example 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 lenses. Preferably the condition 1≦N3_(AS)≦7 is fulfilled.

Preferably, the first objective part has no more than 4 aspheric lenses, i.e. N1_(AS)≦4.

It has been found that the first objective part can be built in many cases with a small number of lenses, thereby optimizing lens material consumption and a compact size of the first objective part particularly in axial direction. In some embodiments, the first objective part includes no more than 5 lenses such that the number N1_(L) of lenses in the first objective part fulfills the condition N1_(L)≦5. Embodiments with N1_(L)=4 are possible. It appears, however, that N1_(L)=5 may be preferable in many cases.

In some embodiments, the first objective part has positive lenses only, whereby formation of the first intermediate image can be obtained with small maximum lens diameters in the first objective part. In other embodiments, at least one negative lens may be useful, particularly for improving correction within the first objective part. Exactly one negative lens is often preferred for that purpose. The negative lens may have a concave lens surface on the image side and may be placed between the pupil surface of the first objective part and the first intermediate image.

It is known that aspheric surfaces provided on optical elements, such as lenses, mirrors and/or essentially planar faces of plates, prisms or the like can be utilized to improve both the correction status and the overall size and material consumption of optical systems. In some embodiments, the projection objective includes at least one “double asphere” comprising a first aspheric surface and a second aspheric surface immediately adjacent to the first aspheric surface, thereby allowing a transmitted beam to pass two subsequent aspheric surfaces without passing an intermediate spheric or planar surface. Double aspheres have proven to be a very powerful correction means in some embodiments.

A double asphere may take the structure of a biaspherical lens having an aspheric entrance surface and an aspheric exit surface. In some preferred embodiments the double asphere is formed by facing adjacent aspheric surfaces of two subsequent lenses. Thereby, an “air space” bounded by aspheric surfaces on both the entry and exit side can be obtained. The “air space” can be filled with air of another gas having refractive index n≈1. Where aspheric surfaces of a double asphere are distributed on facing lens surfaces of subsequent lenses, the aspheric surfaces can be positioned very close together if desired. An optical distance, measured along the optical axis, between the first and second aspheric surface of the double asphere may therefore be smaller than the thickness (measured along the optical axis) of the thinner one of consecutive lenses forming the double asphere. A complex radial distribution of refractive power can thereby be obtained at a defined position in an axially narrow region along the optical axis.

In some embodiments, the third objective part includes at least one double asphere. Preferably, that double asphere is positioned optically between the second intermediate image and the pupil surface of the third objective part, thereby preferably influencing the ray angles in a region of generally diverging beams. A second double asphere may be provided in that objective part.

Alternatively, or in combination, the first objective part may include at least one double asphere. Where a double asphere is provided within the first objective part, it has been found beneficial when the double asphere in the first objective part is positioned optically close to or at a pupil surface of the first objective part.

As pointed out earlier, avoiding large numbers of aspheric surfaces on lenses may contribute to facilitating manufacturing of the projection objective. Under certain conditions, the correcting action of a single aspheric surface can be approximated by one or more spherical surfaces where large angles of incidence of rays occur on that surface. In some embodiments, the first objective part includes at least one lens having a lens surface where incidence angles of rays transiting that lens surface include incidence angles larger than 60°. Preferably, that surface may be optically close to the pupil surface The angle of incidence (incidence angle) in this case is defined as the angle enclosed by a ray and the surface normal of the lens surface at the point of impingement of that ray on the lens surface. High incidence angle surfaces of that kind may be employed to reduce the number of aspheres.

The previous and other properties can be seen not only in the claims but also in the description and the drawings, wherein individual characteristics may be used either alone or in sub-combinations as an embodiment of the invention and in other areas and may individually represent advantageous and patentable embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a first embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a second embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a third embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a fourth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a fifth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a sixth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a seventh embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a eighth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a ninth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a tenth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a eleventh embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 12 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a twelfth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 13 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a thirteenth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 14 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a fourteenth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention;

FIG. 15 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a fifteenth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention; and

FIG. 16 is a longitudinally sectioned view of a sixteenth embodiment of a projection objective according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, the term “optical axis” shall refer to a straight line or sequence of straight-line segments passing through the centers of curvature of the optical elements involved. The optical axis is folded by folding mirrors (deflecting mirrors) or other reflective surfaces. In the case of those examples presented here, the object involved is either a mask (reticle) bearing the pattern of an integrated circuit or some other pattern, for example, a grating pattern. In the examples presented here, the image of the object is projected onto a wafer serving as a substrate that is coated with a layer of photoresist, although other types of substrate, such as components of liquid-crystal displays or substrates for optical gratings, are also feasible.

Where tables are provided to disclose the specification of a design shown in a figure, the table or tables are designated by the same numbers as the respective figures. Corresponding features in the figures are designated with like or identical reference identifications to facilitate understanding. Where lenses are designated, an identification L3-2 denotes the second lens in the third objective part (when viewed in the light propagation direction).

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a catadioptric projection lens 100 according to the invention designed for ca. 193 nm UV working wavelength. It is designed to project an image of a pattern on a reticle arranged in the planar object surface OS (object plane) into the planar image surface IS (image plane) on a reduced scale, for example, 4:1, while creating exactly two real intermediate images IMI1, IMI2. A first refractive objective part OP1 is designed for imaging the pattern in the object surface into the first intermediate image IMI1 at an enlarged scale. A second, catoptric (purely reflective) objective part OP2 images the first intermediate image IMI1 into the second intermediate image IMI2 at a magnification close to 1:1. A third, refractive objective part OP3 images the second intermediate image IMI2 onto the image surface IS with a strong reduction ratio. The second objective part OP2 comprises a first concave mirror CM1 having the concave mirror surface facing the object side, and a second concave mirror CM2 having the concave mirror surface facing the image side. The mirror surfaces are both continuous or unbroken, i.e. they do not have a hole or bore. The mirror surfaces facing each other define a catadioptric cavity, which is also denoted intermirror space, enclosed by the curved surfaces defined by the concave mirrors. The intermediate images IMI1, IMI2 are both situated inside the catadioptric cavity well apart from the mirror surfaces.

Each mirror surface of a concave mirror defines a “curvature surface” or “surface of curvature” which is a mathematical surface extending beyond the edges of the physical mirror surface and containing the mirror surface. The first and second concave mirrors are parts of rotationally symmetric curvature surfaces having a common axis of rotational symmetry.

The objective 100 is rotational symmetric and has one straight optical axis AX common to all refractive and reflective optical components. There are no folding mirrors. The concave mirrors have small diameters allowing to bring them close together and rather close to the intermediate images lying in between. The concave mirrors are both constructed and illuminated as off-axis sections of axial symmetric surfaces. The light beam passes by the edges of the concave mirrors facing the optical axis without vignetting.

The projection objective 100 is designed as an immersion objective for λ=193 nm having an image side numerical aperture NA=1.2 when used in conjunction with the high index immersion fluid, e.g. pure water, between the exit surface of the objective closest to the image surface IS, and the image surface IS. The refractive first objective part OP1 has spherical lenses only. Both concave mirrors CM1, CM2 are aspherical mirrors. The third objective part OP3 has one aspheric surface (entrance surface of lens L3-9) near the position of the pupil surface P3 of that objective part (where the chief ray CR of the imaging intersects the optical axis AX) and a second aspheric surface on the exit side of the penultimate lens L3-12 immediately upstream of the last, image side plano-convex lens L3-13. The last lens, which will be in contact with an immersion fluid during operation of the projection objective, is also denoted “immersion lens” in this specification. Although the projection objective is not fully corrected for all aberrations, it shows that an imaging is possible with a small number of aspheric lenses (N_(AS)=2) all placed in the third objective part.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a projection objective 200 having an all-spheric first objective part OP1 and only one aspheric lens L3-4 in third objective part OP3. An aperture stop AS is placed in the third objective part in the region of the pupil surface PS3 thereof. There is no need for a well-corrected position for an aperture stop in the first objective part OP1, which, in this case, consists of only four lenses, all lenses being spherical positive lenses. Thereby, a very simple and compact construction of the first objective part is obtained.

The projection objective 200 is designed as an immersion lens for λ=193 nm having an image side numerical aperture NA=1.20 when used in conjunction with a high index immersion fluid, e.g. pure water, between the exit surface of the objective and the image surface. The specification for this design is summarized in Table 2. The leftmost column lists the number of the refractive, reflective, or otherwise designated surface, the second column lists the radius, r, of that surface [mm], the third column lists the distance, d [mm], between that surface and the next surface, a parameter that is referred to as the “thickness” of the optical element, the fourth column lists the material employed for fabricating that optical element, and the fifth column lists the refractive index of the material employed for its fabrication. The sixth column lists the optically utilizable, clear, semi diameter [mm] of the optical component. A radius r=0 in a table designates a planar surface (having infinite radius).

In the case of this particular embodiment, three surfaces (surfaces 9, 10, 18) are aspherical surfaces. Table 2A lists the associated data for those aspherical surfaces, from which the sagitta or rising height p(h) of their surface figures as a function of the height h may be computed employing the following equation: p(h)=[((1/r)h ²)/(1+SQRT(1−(1+K)(1/r)² h ²))]+C1·h ⁴ +C2·h ⁶+ . . . , where the reciprocal value (1/r) of the radius is the curvature of the surface in question at the surface vertex and h is the distance of a point thereon from the optical axis. The sagitta or rising height p(h) thus represents the distance of that point from the vertex of the surface in question, measured along the z-direction, i.e., along the optical axis. The constants K, C1, C2, etc., are listed in Table 2A.

It is remarkable that in this embodiment many aberrations are corrected to a high degree with a small number of lenses (N_(L)=13) and only one aspheric lens (L3-4) in addition to the aspheric concave mirrors CM1, CM2. Particularly, all third-order and fifth-order aberrations are zero. The variation in telecentricity is corrected over the field. Higher-order (seventh-order and higher) distortion is corrected over the field. Pupil aberration on the image side is corrected so that the image side numerical aperture NA=1.2 is constant over the field. Two real rays are corrected on-axis and four aperture rays are corrected at an intermediate field point. Higher-order (seventh-order and higher) astigmatism is corrected at the edge of the field and at an intermediate field point. This correaction status is obtained with an objective where the lens diameters of the third objective part (acting as a focusing lens group) are quite small, with 218 mm diameter for the largest lens. The first lens L3-1 of the third objective part has a relatively large geometrical distance to the vertex of the geometrically nearest mirror (first concave mirror CM1), where that axial mirror-lens-distance MLD is 90 mm. This is about 7.5% of the axial distance between object surface OS and image surface IS, this object-image distance also being denoted as “track length”. A large geometrical distance MLD between the image side first concave mirror CM1 and the first lens of the third objective part contributes to small lens diameters in the third objective part.

The last lens L3-9 on the image side (immersion lens) has a short radius (50 mm) of the spherical entrance surface, whereby small incidence angles are obtained at that surface.

The design can be optimized with regard to residual aberrations, where higher order Petzval curvature and higher order sagitta oblique spherical aberration appears to dominate. Adding one lens to the first objective part and/or providing one or more further aspheric surfaces can contribute to reduce the residual aberrations. An example of a further development of the design of FIG. 2 is shown in FIG. 3, where an additional negative lens L1-4 designed as a meniscus lens having an image side concave surface is added in the first objective part between the pupil surface P1 thereof and the first intermediate image. This modification allows to correct the mentioned residual aberrations. This example exemplifies, amongst others, that the basic design allows high flexibility for correcting imaging errors within overall simple construction with small number of lenses and a small number of aspherical lenses.

A fourth embodiment of a projection objective 400 is shown in FIG. 4, the specification thereof is given in tables 4 and 4A. Similar to the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3, there is only one aspheric lens, namely positive meniscus lens L3-4 having an aspheric exit surface, in that system, placed in the third objective part OP3 in the region of largest beam diameter upstream of the aperture stop AS optically close to the pupil surface P3 of that objective part. The first objective part OP1 is all-spherical, having only one negative lens L1-4 in a sequence P-P-P-N-P, where “P” denotes a positive lens and “N” denotes a negative lens. From a construction point of view, a large axial distance between the vertex of the image side concave mirror CM1 and the first lens L3-1 of the third objective part OP3 is apparent, this distance MLD being more than 10% of the track length.

FIG. 5 shows a variant of the systems of FIGS. 3 and 4, where slight modifications predominantly in the first objective part OP1 were applied to a improve correction. The resulting design of FIG. 5 has two field points that are corrected for both astigmatism and Petzval curvature, and the field zone with no astigmatism is in focus.

In preferred designs of the invention, distortion, astigmatism, Petzval curvature and telecentricity variation over the field can all be corrected to very high orders with a similar construction of the first objective part OP1 (serving as a relay system to form the first intermediate image IMI1) and only a few spherical lenses in addition to the aspheric mirrors.

It appears that two aspheric concave mirrors CM1, CM2 are important for obtaining good correction with a small number of aspheric lenses. Two aspheric mirrors generally allow to make a design that is corrected for two chief ray aberrations, like distortion and telecentricity variation, to very high orders. It appears that those two aberrations can be exactly corrected by the two aspheric mirrors if the aspheric deformations of that mirrors are set correctly. It is one remarkable aspect, that, in addition, the astigmatism and Petzval curvature can also be corrected to a high degree with an all-spherical first objective part OP1.

It appears that there are at least three characteristics, which, singly or in combination, can contribute to the positive properties of the design type with regard to aberration corrections. One aspect is that the concave mirrors may preferably be quite unequal in radius, compared to other embodiments where the concave mirrors CM1, CM2 are identical or almost identical. Further, it appears that quite a lot of coma at the intermediate images IMI1 and/or IMI2 facilitates correction with a small number of aspheric lenses. Also, the remarkably large air space (mirror-lens-distance MLD) between the vertex of the image side concave mirror CM1 and the first lens of the third objective part appears to contribute to that beneficial properties.

It appears that the object side and the image side and/or the projection objective, i.e. the first objective part OP1 and the third objective part OP3, can almost be designed independently. In particular, the third objective part (focusing lens group) can be designed for aperture aberrations without much concern for field aberrations, and then a first objective part being relatively simple in construction can be designed to compensate for field aberration, wherein that compensation might be obtained without aspheric lenses or with only a small number of aspheric lens, e.g. only one aspheric lens.

The previous embodiments show that designs are available having a fairly simple first objective part with only four or five lenses, where all lenses may be spherical. Such rather simple relay lens group can give correction for field aberrations to an extremely high order. Aperture aberrations are preferably corrected in the third objective part, which may also have a fairly simple construction with just a few aspherics, the number of aspheric lenses in third objective part preferably being higher than the number of aspheric lenses in the first objective part.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show closely related embodiments 600, 700, where the number of aspheric lenses in the refractive first and third objective part is increased when compared to the previous embodiments. The specification of objective 700 is given in tables 7 and 7A. An improvement with respect to aperture aberrations is obtained. Particularly, seven aspheric lenses are used, where N1_(AS)=2 and N3_(AS)=5, such that the aspheric lens ratio ASR=0.4. The design of FIG. 6 having two aspheric lenses L1-2 and L1-5 in the first objective part OP1 has an wavefront aberration of 5 milliwaves over the field.

One double asphere DA is provided in the third objective part OP3 optically between a second intermediate image IMI2 and the pupil surface P3 of that objective part in a region of significantly increasing beam diameter. The double asphere is formed by the aspheric exit surface of positive lens L3-6 and the subsequent aspheric entry surface of the following positive meniscus lens L3-7 immediately adjacent thereto. The axial separation of the two aspheric surfaces is smaller than the thickness of the thinner lens L3-7 adjacent to the double asphere such that the aspheres are in close proximity. A complex radial distribution of refractive power is thereby obtained in a specific region of the beam, thereby contributing strongly to image correction.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show embodiments 800, 900 very similar in design. The specification of projection objective 900 is given in tables 9, 9A. An image-side numerical aperture NA=1.2 and wavefront error of about 6 milliwaves is obtained with only six aspheric lenses, where one aspheric lens (positive meniscus L1-5 having image side concave surface placed near the pupil surface P1) is provided in the first objective part and the remainder of five aspheric lenses are distributed within the third objective part OP3. These aspheric lenses include a biconcave negative meniscus L3-2, a double asphere DA formed by a lens pair L3-5, L3-6 with facing aspheric surfaces, a biconvex positive lens L3-9 close to the aperture stop AS, and a positive lens L3-10 between the aperture stop and the image surface IS. As indicated by the ray distribution in FIG. 8, the front pupil in the relay section formed by first objective part OP1 is pretty well corrected. A focus region with little or no coma aberrations (low-coma intermediate image) for both intermediate images IMI1 and IMI2 is apparent. The low-coma intermediate image IMI2 is refocused onto the image surface with refractive objective part OP3 having a thick positive lens L3-1 on the entry side and a significant waist W (i.e. a region of beam diameter constriction) between the first lens L3-1 and the region of largest beam diameter shortly upstream of the aperture stop AS. Double asphere DA is placed in the divergent beam between the waist and the aperture stop AS.

The projection objective 1000 in FIG. 10 may in some respects be considered as a variant of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. A specification thereof is given in tables 10, 10A. Whereas the third objective part OP3 has five aspheric lenses relatively similar in design and positioning when compared to the embodiments 800 and 900, there is no aspheric lens in the first objective part OP1, such that N_(AS)=5. Remarkably, an all-spherical doublett consisting of an image-side biconvex positive lens L1-6 and a negative meniscus lens L1-7 having an object side concave surface immediately downstream of the positive lens is positioned near the pupil surface P1. High angles of incidence of rays exiting the positive lens L1-6 and entering the subsequent negative lens L1-7 are found in that region, where the angles of incidence include angles larger than 60°. It appears that the optical effect of the aspheric lens L1-5 of embodiments 800, 900 having a difficult to manufacture aspheric surface with rapid slope changes can at least partly be simulated by using some fairly high incidence angles (in the range of 60°-65°) in a similar region near the pupil surface of the first objective part OP1. Since the spherical surfaces of the doublett lenses L1-6, L1-7 are easier to manufacture, manufacturability can be improved in some cases by replacing an aspheric lens by one or more spherical lens surfaces where high incidence angles occur.

When replacement of an aspheric surface by spherical surfaces is considered, it appears that what most matters is the base spherical curvature. A spherical doublett may therefore be able to replace an aspheric surface—even a very high order aspheric.

The correction status of variants of embodiment 1000 ranges between 4, 5 and 6 milliwaves over the field. This indicates that this correction can be obtained with an all-spherical first objective part OP1 and that the complete design does not need many aspheric lenses (only 5 lens aspherics here) to obtain a good performance.

The specification of the catadioptric projection objective 1100 is given in tables 11, 11A. The embodiment is a good example to show that “double aspheres” having two pretty strong aspheric lens surfaces very close to each other may be a very powerful design component. Here, a double asphere DA formed by lenses L3-4 and L3-5 is found in the region of increasing beam diameter within the third objective part OP3, similar to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, for example. In addition, a second double asphere DA formed by the facing surfaces of lenses L1-5 and L1-6 is present optically near the front pupil, i.e. the pupil surface P1 of the first objective part OP1. In this embodiment, N_(AS)=8, N1_(AS)=3 and N3_(AS)=5. The correction is about 2.5 milliwaves only at NA=1.2, with the largest lens diameter of 220 mm found in the third objective part close to the aperture stop AS. This exemplifies the potential of this design for obtaining good optical performance with a small number of aspheric lenses.

FIG. 12 shows an immersion objective for λ=193 nm having NA=1.3 (instead of NA=1.2 in the previous examples). The largest lens diameter (found shortly upstream of the aperture stop AS within the third objective part OP3) is 270 mm. There are just eight aspheric lenses with N1_(AS)=2 and N3_(AS)=6. These include one double asphere DA formed by lenses L3-4 and L3-5 and positioned in a region of diverging beam between a waist W in the third objective part and the aperture stop AS. The field radius is 66 mm. The correction is about 4 to 6 milliwaves over the field. The design assumes exactly telecentric input. It is evident that from the ray configuration at the intermediate images that there is a large amount of coma at the intermediate images.

A further embodiment of a catadioptric immersion objective 1300 with NA=1.3 is shown in FIG. 13. The specification is given in tables 13, 13A. N_(AS)=10, N1_(AS)=4 and N3_(AS)=6. Although the image-side numerical aperture NA=1.3 corresponds to that of objective 1200, the largest lens diameter is only 250 mm (instead of 270 mm in embodiment 1200). Still, the wavefront error is about 4 milliwaves over the field only. Again, the design is characterized by the absence of a real stop so that a telecentric input is required. Again a large amount of coma is found at the intermediate images.

The catadioptric immersion objective 1400 in FIG. 14 (specification given in tables 14 and 14A) is another example of a high NA catadioptric immersion objective with NA=1.3 and a relatively small maximum lens diameter, that lens diameter of the largest lens being only 250 mm. Four out of eleven aspheric lenses are found in the first objective part OP1, the remainder of seven aspheric lenses is distributed in the third objective part OP3. When compared to previous designs, manufacturability of the aspheric lenses is improved by observing the requirement that all of the aspheric lens surfaces have less than 1.0 mm deformation from a spheric surface and have local aspheric radii being greater than 150 mm for each aspheric surface. Three double aspheres are provided. One double asphere DA formed by lenses L1-6 and L1-7 positioned at the pupil surface P1 within the first objective part OP1 is designed to have fairly high incidence angles which appears to have a similar effect as short local aspheric radii (which are more difficult to manufacture). There are two double aspheres DA in the third objective part OP3, namely one double asphere formed by facing surfaces of negative lenses L3-1, L3-2 in the region of minimum lens diameter within the third objective part, and a subsequent double aspheric formed by facing surfaces of lenses L3-3 and L3-4 in the region of largest beam diameter increase between the second intermediate image IMI2 and the aperture stop AS, which is positioned between the region of largest beam diameter and the image surface IS. Like the embodiments of FIGS. 11 to 13, large amount of coma is present in the intermediate images IMI1, IMI2.

The catadioptric immersion objective 1500 in FIG. 15 (specification in tables 15 and 15A) is a variant of the embodiment shown in FIG. 14, where sizes and types of lenses present in the objective 1500 are essentially the same. A difference lies in the fact that an additional biconvex positive lens L3-1 is introduced immediately after the second intermediate image IMI2, thereby providing positive refractive power on the entry side of third objective part OP3. Good performance at NA=1.3 is obtained.

The basic design has potential for even higher image side numerical apertures with NA>1.3. The catadioptric immersion objective 1600 in FIG. 16 (specification in tables 16 and 16A) is based on the design of FIG. 15, but optimized to obtain NA=1.35. Like in that embodiment, there are ten lenses in the first objective part (including 4 aspheric lenses), and twelve lenses in the third objective part (including 7 aspheric lenses). Although the basic types of lenses are the same, lens thickness, surface radii and lens positions differ slightly. As the numerical aperture increases, it appears beneficial to place the aperture stop AS in the third objective part OP3 between the region of maximum beam diameter (at biconvex lens L3-8) and the image surface IS in the region of strongly converging beam. Here, only three positive lenses are placed between the aperture stop and the image surface.

It may be beneficial to place the second objective part OP2 geometrically closer to the image surface the higher the desired numerical aperture is. For convenience, the second objective part OP2, preferably consisting of two aspheric concave mirrors CM1, CM2 only, is also denoted “mirror group” in the following. In order to demonstrate this feature, a first optical axis length OAL1 is defined between the object surface OS and the vertex of the concave mirror CM2 geometrically closest to the object surface, and a third optical axis length OAL3 is defined between the vertex of the concave mirror (CM1) geometrically closest to the image surface and the image surface (see FIG. 16). Based on this definition, a mirror group position parameter MG=OAL1/OAL3 is defined, where this value tends to be larger the further the mirror group tends to be positioned on the image side of the projection objective. In table 17, the values of OAL1, OAL3 and MG are summarized for all embodiments described here. Based on these data, a mirror group position parameter MG>0.7 appears to be desirable in order to obtain high image side numerical apertures. Preferably, MG≧0.8. More preferably, MG≧0.9.

Each projection objective described here has a high NA image side end where projection radiation exits the projection objective at an exit surface ES, which is preferably planar in order to allow a uniform distance between the exit surface and a planar substrate surface arranged at the image surface IS. The lens closest to the image surface and forming the exit surface ES, is denoted “last lens” LL here. Preferably, the last lens is a piano-convex positive lens having a curved entry surface ENS, which is spherically curved in most embodiments, and the planar exit surface ES. In order to obtain high NA it has been found useful to design the last lens such that large refractive power provided by the curved entry surface ENS is arranged as close as possible to the image surface. Further, strong curvatures, i.e. small curvature radii of the entry surface ENS of the last lens LL appear desirable. If T_(LL) is the thickness of the last lens on the optical axis (i.e. the axial distance between the entry surface ENS and the exit surface ES measured along the optical axis), R_(LL) is the object side vertex radius of the last lens (i.e. the radius of the entry surface ENS), and DIA_(LL) is the optically free diameter of the entry surface of the last lens, then the parameters LL1=T_(LL)/R_(LL) and LL2=DIA_(LL)/R_(LL) should preferably fall within certain limits. Particularly, it has been found useful if the conditions 1.1<LL1<2.2 holds for LL1. Preferably, the upper limit may be even smaller, such as 1.8 or 1.7 or 1.6. As parameter LL1 becomes unity for a hemispherical lens, where the center of curvature or the entry surface coincides with the exit surface, the condition regarding LL1 shows that non-hemispherical last lenses are preferred, where the center of curvature of the curved entry surface lies outside the last lens, particularly beyond the image surface.

Alternatively, or in addition, the condition 2.1<LL2<2.6 should preferably hold for LL2. The upper limit could be smaller, e.g. 2.5 or 2.4 or 2.3. The respective values for LL1 and LL2 are presented in table 18. If at least one of the above condition holds, strong positive power provided by the curved entry surface of the last lens is provided close to the image surface, thereby allowing a large image side numerical aperture NA to be obtained, particularly with NA>1.1 or NA>1.2, such as NA=1.3 or NA=1.35.

With regard to the correction status of the intermediate images IMI1, IMI2 it is found that in some embodiments both intermediate images are essentially focused (i.e. many aberrations are corrected to a high degree), whereas in other embodiments significant aberrations occur, particularly coma (compare FIG. 11-16) A significant coma aberration for the second intermediate image IMI2 may be beneficial with respect to overall correction of the objective. Since the catoptric second objective part consisting of the concave mirrors CM1 and CM2 is effective to image the first intermediate image into the second intermediate image in an essentially symmetric manner, only little coma is usually introduced by the catoptric second objective part. Therefore, the correction status with respect to coma for both intermediate images tends to be similar. For some embodiments, a significant amount of coma at least for the second intermediate image appears to contribute significantly to the overall correction. The following observations are notable in that respect.

The correction of the sine condition of the entire objective is challenging particularly for objectives having very high image side NA. The correction of sine condition may be facilitated by coma in the intermediate image. If the imaging from the high NA image surface to the low NA object surface (i.e. in reverse direction when compared to the intended use of projection objectives in lithography) is considered, the third objective part (where radiation enters) provides an intermediate image having a certain correction status. Assuming that the spherical aberration of that imaging is corrected, then the intermediate image will be essentially free of coma, if the sine condition of that imaging would be corrected. In contrast, if the sine condition is not corrected, that intermediate image would have a significant amount of coma. If the intermediate image has a considerable amount of coma, correction of the sine condition in the third objective part is facilitated.

Now, imaging of the second intermediate image into the image surface in the intended direction (towards the high NA end) is considered. If the second intermediate image would have a good correction status, particularly without coma, then the entire correction of the sine condition would have to be effected by the third objective part imaging the second intermediate image onto the image surface. If, in contrast, a certain amount of coma is present in the second intermediate image, then the third objective part can be designed in a more relaxed manner since the correction of the sine condition can at least partly be effected by the objective parts optically upstream of the third objective part, i.e. the refractive relay system OP1 forming the first intermediate image, and the catoptric second objective part OP2. Therefore, it appears that designs where the correction of coma is distributed between the first refractive objective part OP1 and the third objective part OP3 may be beneficial when compared to objectives where each of that refractive objective part is independently corrected for coma.

As mentioned earlier, the invention allows to build high NA projection objectives suitable for immersion lithography at NA>1 with compact size.

Table 19 summarizes the values necessary to calculate the compactness parameters COMP1, COMP2, COMP3 and the respective values for these parameters for each of the systems presented with a specification table (the table number (corresponding to the same number of a figure) is given in column 1 of table 19). Further, the respective values for N1_(AS), N3_(AS), and ASR are shown.

Table 19 shows that preferred embodiments according to the invention generally observe at least one of the conditions given earlier indicating that compact designs with moderate material consumption are obtained according to the design rules laid out in this specification. Further, the particular values characterizing the aspheric lens number and distribution are shown.

In the following, further characteristic features of projection objectives according to the invention are summarized, where one or more of those features may be present in an embodiment of the invention. Parameters summarized in tables 20 and 21 are used to demonstrate these features.

In some embodiments, the chief ray of the imaging process takes a characteristic course. For demonstration purposes, a chief ray CR running from an outermost field point (furthest away from the optical axis AX) essentially parallel to the optical axis and intersecting the optical axis at three consecutive pupil surface positions P1, P2, P3, each within on of the imaging objective parts OP1, OP2, OP3, is drawn in bold line in FIG. 16 to facilitate understanding. The angle included between the optical axis AX and the chief ray CR at each position along the chief ray is denoted “chief ray angle” CRA in the following. The chief ray CR is divergent (chief ray height increasing in light propagation direction) at the position of the first intermediate image IMI1 and converging at the position of the second intermediate image IMI2. Strongly converging chief rays appear to be beneficial to obtain high image side NA and a sufficient correction.

In the region between the two concave mirrors CM1, CM2, the chief ray crosses the optical axis at a high chief ray angle CRA (M), that angle preferably falling in the region between 58° and 75°, particularly between 60° and 72°. (see table 20).

With regard to the magnification provided by the imaging objective parts OP1, OP2, OP3 it appears that it is beneficial if the magnification β₃ of the third objective part OP3 imaging the second intermediate image IMI2 at high reduction ratio onto the image surface should preferably fall within a range 0.11≦β₃≦0.17. In order to obtain a desired overall reduction ratio (e.g. 1:4 or 1:5) the second objective part OP2 may contribute to the overall reduction by having a magnification ratio β₂<1. Preferably, the mirror group forming the second objective part OP2 may be designed to have a moderate reducing effect characterized by 0.85≦β₂<1. If the second objective part contributes to some extent to the overall reduction, the third objective part responsible for the major part of reduction can be designed in a more relaxed manner.

It appears that the refractive power (characterized by the focal length f) provided by the first two or three lenses on the entry side of the third objective part OP3 immediately after the second concave mirror CM2 may contribute to good performance by designing this entry group such that the overall refractive power of that entry group is negative. In the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 4, 14, 15, 16, the entry group is formed by the first two lenses of the third objective part, providing an entry group focal length f3 (L1 . . . 2). In the embodiments of FIGS. 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, the entry group is formed by three consecutive lenses, thereby providing a focal length f3 (L1 . . . 3) of the entry group. Values are given in table 20.

On the other hand, it appears that not many negative lenses should be present in the third objective part following the second concave mirror CM2, where that number N3_(NL) of negative lenses is three or less than three in all embodiments (parameter K7a=YES in table 21), and is smaller than three in the embodiments of FIGS. 2, 4, 14, 15, 16 (parameter K7=YES in table 21).

Further, it appears to be beneficial if the optically free diameter DIA₃₁ of the first lens L3-1 of the third objective part OP3 is significantly smaller than the diameter DIA_(AS) of the aperture stop. Preferably, the diameter ratio DR=DIA₃₁/DIA_(AS) should be smaller than 0.9. More preferably, an upper value of 0.8, even more preferably an upper value of 0.7 should not be exceeded. Values for the diameter ratio DR are given in table 21.

Further, it has been found that it may be beneficial if more than 50% of all lenses after the second concave mirror (i.e. lenses of the third objective part) have an optically free diameter smaller than the diameter of the second intermediate image IMI2 following the second concave mirror CM2. This condition is fulfilled for all embodiments, as shown by parameter K10 in table 21.

Also, all lenses of the first, refractive objective part OP1 should preferably be smaller than the paraxial size of the first intermediate image. If this condition is fulfilled, parameter K9 in table 20 is fulfilled.

In order to provide strong positive refractive power for obtaining strong beam convergence at the high NA image end it is preferable if at least one of 8 and 9 consecutive lenses upstream of the image surface should have positive refractive power. This is exemplified by parameter K11 in table 21, which is “YES”=Y if the condition is fulfilled and “NO”=N if the condition is not fulfilled.

In this context it is worth to note that it appears beneficial for obtaining high NA, if the position of the aperture stop AS is in the region of convergent beam between the position of largest beam diameter within the third objective part OP3, and the image surface. This property is exemplified by the ratio AS-IS/TT shown in table 20, where AS-IS is the geometrical distance between the position of the aperture stop AS and the image surface IS, and TT is the “track length” of the objective, i.e. the geometrical distance between object surface and image surface. The ratio AS-IS/TT may fall in a range between 0.09 and 0.18 (see table 20).

This feature is particularly pronounced in embodiments of FIGS. 12 to 16.

Further characteristic features are evident from the course of the coma beam. Here, a “coma beam” refers to a beam emerging from an object field point furthest remote from the optical axis and transiting the aperture stop at the edge of the aperture. The coma beam therefore contributes to determining which lens diameters must be used. The angle included by this coma beam and the optical axis is denoted in “coma beam angle CBA” in the following. The angle of that beam after refraction at the last lens of the first objective part (upstream of the first intermediate image IMI1) is denoted CBA1, whereas the angle of the coma beam immediately upstream of the refraction at the first lens of the image side third objective part OP3 is denoted CBA3. The values of these angles are given in table 21. It appears that for both coma beam angles values of less than 5° may be beneficial (table 21).

As noted above, the chief ray intersects the optical axis at pupil surfaces P1, P2, P3 in the concatenated objective parts OP1, OP2, OP3. As the pupil surfaces within the first and third objective parts are accessible for setting an aperture stop, these positions are also denoted aperture positions. The beam diameter at the aperture stop, DIA_(AS) and the beam diameter DIA_(P1) at the pupil surface P1 in the first objective part, conjugated to the position of the aperture stop, should fall within certain limits. The ratio DIA_(AS)/DIA_(P1) should be larger than 1. Preferably the condition DIA_(AS)/DIA_(P1)>2 should be satisfied. (see table 21).

It is to be understood that all systems described above may be complete systems for forming a real image (e.g. on a wafer) from a real object. However, the systems may be used as partial systems of larger systems. For example, the “object” for a system mentioned above may be an image formed by an imaging system (relay system) upstream of the object plane. Likewise, the image formed by a system mentioned above may be used as the object for a system (relay system) down-stream of the image plane.

The above description of the preferred embodiments has been given by way of example. From the disclosure given, those skilled in the art will not only understand the present invention and its attendant advantages, but will also find apparent various changes and modifications to the structures and methods disclosed. It is sought, therefore, to cover all changes and modifications as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims, and equivalents thereof.

The contents of all the claims is made part of this description by reference. TABLE 2 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35.375532 66 1 131.949135 35.970704 SILUV 1.56038308 87.585 2 406.761557 104.80906 85.863 3 3059.843345 27.506721 SILUV 1.56038308 75.651 4 −198.500428 1.017885 74.735 5 130.040913 27.00543 SIO2V 1.5607857 63.806 6 645.092151 131.039998 59.727 7 295.611694 27.141936 SIO2V 1.5607857 73.901 8 −488.184201 269.934616 75.186 9 −168.378905 −229.757172 REFL 146.55 10 191.880744 321.03168 REFL 142.027 11 3866.479073 15 SILUV 1.56038308 84.264 12 200.296391 23.187613 81.401 13 −853.282183 12 SILUV 1.56038308 81.615 14 183.221555 40.757592 85.452 15 −260.121033 40.375633 SILUV 1.56038308 88.116 16 −119.830244 1.000373 93.697 17 377.105699 25.88629 SILUV 1.56038308 107.44 18 806.870168 6.60952 108.283 19 402.481304 53.968509 SILUV 1.56038308 109.043 20 −239.942098 30.458674 110.617 21 0 0 105.938 22 448.147113 83.062268 SILUV 1.56038308 104.924 23 −279.740357 1 97.993 24 225.5812 54.802627 SILUV 1.56038308 86.607 25 −998.977091 1 76.79 26 66.501558 33.495315 SILUV 1.56038308 57.153 27 131.610919 0.100001 48.532 28 49.614771 31.476238 SILUV 1.56038308 37.98 29 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 21.144 30 0 0 16.918

TABLE 2A Aspheric constants SRF 9 10 18 K −0.452326 −0.261902 0 C1 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 9.85E−08 C2 7.69E−14 −1.44E−15 6.78E−13 C3 −1.99E−18 2.07E−19 −8.47E−17 C4 4.90E−22 −1.14E−23 −2.33E−21 C5 −2.26E−26 −5.61E−28 −3.90E−27 C6 5.71E−31 4.00E−32 0.00E+00

TABLE 4 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35.793949 66 1 120.118526 42.934369 SIO2V 1.5607857 90.022 2 412.405523 126.645729 87.381 3 633.242338 22.659816 SIO2V 1.5607857 61.491 4 −210.086581 46.042292 60.076 5 130.137899 30.712802 SIO2V 1.5607857 61.678 6 −522.603119 34.752273 61.093 7 −1187.517919 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 59.563 8 114.106019 28.350504 59.307 9 222.108344 30.902208 SIO2V 1.5607857 68.301 10 −299.15163 256.466683 69.608 11 −150.205889 −216.466684 REFL 144.702 12 198.80711 372.659505 REFL 143.838 13 281.738211 19.28133 SIO2V 1.5607857 93.203 14 125.854932 30.787413 85.622 15 774.983336 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 86.014 16 190.931672 31.687547 88.47 17 −741.767142 42.517621 SIO2V 1.5607857 90.935 18 −141.29554 16.921402 95.293 19 161.709504 50.734927 SIO2V 1.5607857 110.341 20 256.329089 15.962417 100.811 21 231.628153 52.349429 SIO2V 1.5607857 101.677 22 −355.162157 24.394096 100.975 23 0 0 90.786 24 298.995001 34.357885 SIO2V 1.5607857 87.38 25 −413.984465 1 84.467 26 175.550604 30.458976 SIO2V 1.5607857 75.285 27 577.927994 1 68.756 28 62.317914 30.663962 SIO2V 1.5607857 53.826 29 131.702852 0.1 46.784 30 50 29.329548 SIO2V 1.5607857 36.877 31 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 21.061 32 0 0 17.019

TABLE 4A Aspheric constants SRF 11 12 20 K −0.536388 −0.289717 0 C1 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 1.38E−07 C2 1.40E−13 1.67E−15 1.67E−12 C3 −1.27E−17 7.77E−21 −1.05E−16 C4 1.60E−21 1.74E−23 6.80E−21 C5 −8.54E−26 −1.14E−27 −2.06E−24 C6 2.08E−30 3.15E−32 1.25E−28

TABLE 7 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35.099987 LUFTV193 1.00030168 66 1 127.537708 53.812686 SIO2V 1.5607857 88.311 2 −1424.403792 3.183483 85.654 3 −759.069196 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 85.361 4 433.221851 0.999992 N2VP950 1.00029966 81.029 5 138.239142 29.708609 SIO2V 1.5607857 81.573 6 417.683183 28.068546 N2VP950 1.00029966 79.153 7 178.55362 36.417688 SIO2V 1.5607857 70.512 8 −494.07005 2.060781 N2VP950 1.00029966 65.044 9 155.188372 24.032084 SIO2V 1.5607857 54.381 10 599.310224 35.766015 N2VP950 1.00029966 44.737 11 −222.232519 15.518078 SIO2V 1.5607857 43.157 12 −158.540648 83.688942 N2VP950 1.00029966 48.398 13 −340.58772 31.059836 SIO2V 1.5607857 87.94 14 −151.34275 0.999997 N2VP950 1.00029966 92.472 15 −3390.668582 33.959537 SIO2V 1.5607857 99.743 16 −231.522766 249.6227 N2VP950 1.00029966 101.635 17 −184.547095 −209.6227 REFL 1.00029966 139.73 18 167.029818 249.92793 REFL 1.00029966 120.262 19 621.261771 25.224239 SIO2V 1.5607857 88.34 20 −556.892379 11.423072 N2VP950 1.00029966 87.849 21 928.352541 31.861443 SIO2V 1.5607857 84.353 22 −3894.042096 4.258076 N2VP950 1.00029966 81.388 23 −515.240387 10.001518 SIO2V 1.5607857 80.081 24 128.35306 19.188164 N2VP950 1.00029966 74.104 25 308.870114 10.000043 SIO2V 1.5607857 74.899 26 137.165863 21.160324 N2VP950 1.00029966 75.171 27 535.690303 10.000083 SIO2V 1.5607857 77.414 28 270.832047 16.021774 N2VP950 1.00029966 81.505 29 6886.310806 36.167214 SIO2V 1.5607857 84.419 30 −205.759199 3.943304 N2VP950 1.00029966 92.09 31 −673.879021 20.931667 SIO2V 1.5607857 96.507 32 −289.392079 17.53001 N2VP950 1.00029966 102.53 33 −578.552137 45.351534 SIO2V 1.5607857 114.339 34 −180.862466 0.999999 N2VP950 1.00029966 118.861 35 486.683329 67.153511 SIO2V 1.5607857 127.052 36 −560.582675 −0.510173 N2VP950 1.00029966 126.509 37 0 8.553303 N2VP950 1.00029966 124.301 38 804.757635 41.461871 SIO2V 1.5607857 124.183 39 −290.647705 1.000095 N2VP950 1.00029966 124.308 40 251.571322 46.634322 SIO2V 1.5607857 109.472 41 −989.86448 1.000042 N2VP950 1.00029966 103.95 42 86.546078 40.283002 SIO2V 1.5607857 72.678 43 219.985874 0.999974 N2VP950 1.00029966 63.421 44 87.427095 40.057397 SIO2V 1.5607857 50.39 45 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 21.125 46 0 0 16.5

TABLE 7A Aspheric constants SRF 4 10 17 18 22 K 0 0 −0.746204 −0.286924 0 C1 6.03E−08 4.24E−07 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 −1.62E−07 C2 7.60E−12 −3.19E−11 3.46E−14 6.73E−15 5.78E−12 C3 −2.87E−17 1.88E−14 −2.87E−19 −1.19E−18 2.80E−16 C4 −1.68E−21 −2.25E−18 1.04E−22 2.14E−22 2.70E−22 C5 1.40E−24 1.47E−21 −7.95E−27 −2.28E−26 −1.87E−24 C6 2.15E−30 4.27E−25 3.94E−31 1.46E−30 1.45E−28 C7 −1.03E−32 −5.55E−28 −1.07E−35 −5.11E−35 −5.39E−33 C8 1.22E−36 1.42E−31 1.22E−40 7.66E−40 1.42E−36 SRF 30 31 38 41 K 0 0 0 0 C1 5.31E−08 −5.32E−08 −3.90E−08 −2.16E−08 C2 1.81E−12 −1.14E−13 4.45E−15 2.47E−12 C3 1.20E−16 8.83E−17 4.67E−17 −8.51E−17 C4 −4.21E−21 −8.32E−21 −1.21E−21 3.85E−21 C5 −3.09E−25 3.44E−25 3.05E−27 −1.62E−25 C6 −6.36E−31 −3.35E−29 9.87E−32 5.85E−30 C7 −1.97E−33 1.94E−33 3.24E−38 −6.78E−35 C8 −7.59E−38 −2.07E−37 7.29E−42 −7.43E−40

TABLE 9 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 LUFTV193 1.00030168 66 1 167.582589 42.122596 SIO2V 1.5607857 84.14 2 −417.631156 7.351797 83.778 3 −242.658436 14.999993 SIO2V 1.5607857 83.61 4 −639.381532 1 N2VP950 1.00029966 84.261 5 118.161915 52.272937 SIO2V 1.5607857 82.935 6 −405.15896 2.506345 N2VP950 1.00029966 79.384 7 −349.632507 57.987649 SIO2V 1.5607857 78.093 8 −625.61536 0.999978 N2VP950 1.00029966 57.316 9 258.6518 13.775087 SIO2V 1.5607857 51.65 10 3309.642007 6.085525 N2VP950 1.00029966 46.297 11 2505.032734 45.485164 SIO2V 1.5607857 44.366 12 −160.280782 83.214895 N2VP950 1.00029966 43.224 13 −179.709766 28.095749 SIO2V 1.5607857 75.748 14 −113.094268 0.99999 N2VP950 1.00029966 80.728 15 −828.761389 28.910199 SIO2V 1.5607857 86.836 16 −193.020806 237.594315 N2VP950 1.00029966 88.806 17 −170.301754 −197.594315 REFL 1.00029966 137.191 18 164.75935 237.900412 REFL 1.00029966 114.069 19 213.979631 41.964013 SIO2V 1.5607857 95.394 20 −571.726494 30.907497 N2VP950 1.00029966 93.468 21 −607.905756 12.000001 SIO2V 1.5607857 81.046 22 213.467641 20.540794 N2VP950 1.00029966 75.725 23 118232.9153 10.073155 SIO2V 1.5607857 75.17 24 134.456642 11.393332 N2VP950 1.00029966 73.687 25 193.022977 12.19948 SIO2V 1.5607857 75.339 26 149.820622 39.058556 N2VP950 1.00029966 76.132 27 −473.179277 16.280318 SIO2V 1.5607857 82.022 28 −265.194438 3.071697 N2VP950 1.00029966 88.666 29 −596.281929 34.549024 SIO2V 1.5607857 89.977 30 −234.857742 2.605623 N2VP950 1.00029966 100.123 31 −681.432168 46.50367 SIO2V 1.5607857 108.764 32 −170.41214 29.245335 N2VP950 1.00029966 113.403 33 709.34663 59.972517 SIO2V 1.5607857 125.713 34 −519.598522 1.519132 N2VP950 1.00029966 126.621 35 450.108474 47.183961 SIO2V 1.5607857 123.987 36 −298.350498 −21.086597 N2VP950 1.00029966 122.98 37 0 23.537621 N2VP950 1.00029966 120.368 38 195.285408 43.215118 SIO2V 1.5607857 105.824 39 22862.90022 1.012838 N2VP950 1.00029966 100.964 40 97.777305 39.731996 SIO2V 1.5607857 76.541 41 292.58902 4.247054 N2VP950 1.00029966 67.621 42 77.06685 38.565556 SIO2V 1.5607857 47.651 43 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 21.068 44 0 0 16.5

TABLE 9A Aspheric constants SRF 10 17 18 22 28 K 0 −0.609408 −0.404331 0 0 C1 4.50E−07 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 −6.14E−08 1.09E−07 C2 −2.70E−11 7.78E−15 −9.34E−15 3.42E−12 3.58E−12 C3 4.11E−14 3.36E−19 −6.87E−19 2.90E−16 5.02E−16 C4 −1.48E−17 −2.72E−23 1.64E−25 −4.54E−21 −3.35E−20 C5 1.25E−20 2.59E−27 2.75E−27 −1.65E−24 −2.30E−24 C6 −3.96E−24 −1.24E−31 −6.03E−31 1.25E−27 5.00E−29 C7 4.61E−28 3.13E−36 3.69E−35 −1.97E−31 −3.03E−32 C8 5.89E−32 −3.19E−41 −8.59E−40 1.57E−35 2.67E−36 SRF 29 35 39 K 0 0 0 C1 −2.77E−08 −4.34E−08 −1.96E−08 C2 −7.08E−13 1.12E−13 2.57E−12 C3 5.74E−16 5.13E−17 −8.29E−17 C4 −4.78E−20 −1.19E−21 5.74E−21 C5 3.19E−24 −1.83E−26 −6.59E−25 C6 −2.07E−28 2.98E−31 5.81E−29 C7 6.57E−33 3.65E−35 −2.82E−33 C8 −8.15E−37 −9.28E−40 5.86E−38

TABLE 10 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 LUFTV193 1.00030168 66 1 287.201368 23.165416 SIO2V 1.5607857 80.746 2 9548.563984 5.351787 N2VP950 1.00029966 81.708 3 237.938727 27.034898 SIO2V 1.5607857 84.398 4 9748.474128 5.009226 N2VP950 1.00029966 83.75 5 162.029839 30.440188 SIO2V 1.5607857 81.611 6 97.700439 24.108143 N2VP950 1.00029966 71.632 7 285.67649 59.994975 SIO2V 1.5607857 72.04 8 −212.500863 1.413267 N2VP950 1.00029966 73.053 9 231.286954 59.984338 SIO2V 1.5607857 68.81 10 −272.808567 19.053716 N2VP950 1.00029966 59.332 11 470.335844 27.320605 SIO2V 1.5607857 44.739 12 −139.04097 1.780746 N2VP950 1.00029966 45.687 13 −127.442683 14.466354 SIO2V 1.5607857 45.809 14 −301.722518 29.641205 N2VP950 1.00029966 49.864 15 −87.764582 15.000004 SIO2V 1.5607857 53.623 16 −141.229355 34.507463 N2VP950 1.00029966 61.571 17 −259.685309 20.689312 SIO2V 1.5607857 75.669 18 −163.685953 1.001108 N2VP950 1.00029966 79.628 19 −425.644839 25.473178 SIO2V 1.5607857 82.933 20 −177.604049 271.436522 N2VP950 1.00029966 85.588 21 −192.411117 −231.436522 REFL 1.00029966 145.837 22 181.316474 275.635733 REFL 1.00029966 127.943 23 160.280773 39.766183 SIO2V 1.5607857 84.727 24 433.630809 1.168124 N2VP950 1.00029966 79.442 25 172.894805 12.000005 SIO2V 1.5607857 76.455 26 142.708343 25.834202 N2VP950 1.00029966 72.617 27 −522.138568 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 71.538 28 98.617841 39.707255 N2VP950 1.00029966 66.149 29 −242.043593 13.973969 SIO2V 1.5607857 67.886 30 −428.430378 1.113943 N2VP950 1.00029966 76.048 31 1395.872365 59.770439 SIO2V 1.5607857 77.227 32 −200.881136 0.999953 N2VP950 1.00029966 94.132 33 −796.373326 36.651147 SIO2V 1.5607857 101.811 34 −231.145256 0.999958 N2VP950 1.00029966 107.115 35 1394.739591 34.401193 SIO2V 1.5607857 113.699 36 −367.962973 0.999965 N2VP950 1.00029966 114.834 37 501.517244 61.420268 SIO2V 1.5607857 114.165 38 −252.939454 −26.770128 N2VP950 1.00029966 113.428 39 0 27.770123 N2VP950 1.00029966 113.395 40 219.357199 45.58316 SIO2V 1.5607857 104.413 41 −692.879408 0.999976 N2VP950 1.00029966 100.937 42 89.810973 40.252244 SIO2V 1.5607857 73.593 43 252.083859 1.000011 N2VP950 1.00029966 64.98 44 72.146642 41.286323 SIO2V 1.5607857 48.589 45 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 21.154 46 0 0 16.501

TABLE 10A Aspheric constants SRF 21 22 26 30 31 K −0.459313 −0.341948 0 0 0 C1 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 −8.70E−08 1.71E−07 −5.72E−08 C2 1.02E−14 −4.95E−15 −1.61E−12 6.01E−12 −2.30E−13 C3 −5.02E−19 2.15E−19 1.90E−16 5.80E−17 1.96E−16 C4 7.89E−23 −9.13E−23 −5.76E−20 −5.21E−20 −1.01E−20 C5 −5.82E−27 1.06E−26 1.91E−23 −8.66E−24 −1.44E−23 C6 2.63E−31 −7.20E−31 −5.62E−27 −1.36E−27 2.35E−27 C7 −6.44E−36 2.52E−35 7.41E−31 6.08E−31 −1.26E−31 C8 6.64E−41 −3.58E−40 −4.73E−35 −5.19E−35 −3.01E−36 SRF 37 41 K 0 0 C1 −5.65E−08 −2.58E−08 C2 8.17E−14 3.95E−12 C3 8.43E−17 −2.50E−16 C4 −7.58E−22 2.34E−20 C5 −6.19E−26 −2.23E−24 C6 −8.89E−31 1.68E−28 C7 1.00E−34 −7.72E−33 C8 −1.44E−39 1.60E−37

TABLE 11 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0.000000 35.000000 66.0 1 213.125261 21.214076 SIO2 1.560786 82.2 2 480.525665 1.000000 82.6 3 185.297502 31.993610 SIO2 1.560786 84.8 4 7598.261113 4.999310 83.7 5 117.345388 11.527031 SIO2 1.560786 79.0 6 90.286435 62.598487 72.4 7 309.861090 34.537793 SIO2 1.560786 74.4 8 −255.169966 1.000267 73.6 9 183.493169 25.255034 SIO2 1.560786 67.0 10 −733.608935 19.932610 63.6 11 331.584148 52.054611 SIO2 1.560786 51.0 12 −141.351439 8.662425 44.3 13 −135.694467 12.000000 SIO2 1.560786 45.2 14 −438.411699 16.902875 48.6 15 −80.203122 31.804553 SIO2 1.560786 49.3 16 −123.130978 34.208750 62.6 17 −308.561940 19.408823 SIO2 1.560786 76.5 18 −190.486221 1.000288 80.0 19 −339.277899 24.240054 SIO2 1.560786 81.9 20 −169.353619 266.539075 84.6 21 −190.594737 −226.539075 REFL 149.9 22 178.620508 266.539075 REFL 125.1 23 221.347957 30.251017 SIO2 1.560786 86.1 24 1463.195317 1.000000 83.7 25 250.202612 40.863033 SIO2 1.560786 81.0 26 143.175358 28.105820 69.5 27 −407.324144 12.000273 SIO2 1.560786 68.5 28 115.532167 36.897440 67.0 29 −221.836172 11.999999 SIO2 1.560786 68.9 30 −226.960357 1.000000 74.6 31 2492.697910 55.157108 SIO2 1.560786 78.7 32 −161.739806 1.000000 91.0 33 −695.448789 45.255799 SIO2 1.560786 97.4 34 −259.466566 1.000000 104.4 35 1602.782680 56.958100 SIO2 1.560786 107.7 36 −470.968577 1.000000 110.0 37 0.000000 0.000000 109.3 38 386.901024 44.983112 SIO2 1.560786 110.7 39 −272.274704 1.000000 111.1 40 175.872135 43.089438 SIO2 1.560786 99.5 41 −2548.763499 1.000000 95.3 42 91.643707 37.595346 SIO2 1.560786 72.4 43 255.781458 1.000000 64.0 44 67.785174 39.963844 SIO2 1.560786 47.1 45 0.000000 3.000000 H20 1.436677 21.2 46 0.000000 0.000000 16.5

TABLE 11A Aspheric constants SRF 2 10 11 21 22 K 0 0 0 −0.496553 −0.336642 C1 1.643437E−09 8.928205E−09 −8.734171E−08 0.000000E+00 0.000000E+00 C2 1.208889E−14 1.236176E−11 2.818326E−12 5.747313E−15 −6.240079E−15 C3 8.824285E−18 −1.197673E−15 −1.228572E−15 −1.412426E−19 6.784381E−20 C4 2.922597E−21 6.507491E−19 1.042260E−18 2.261574E−23 −7.158782E−23 C5 −2.369521E−25 −1.334779E−22 −3.756091E−23 −1.450149E−27 8.093083E−27 C6 3.356358E−30 2.670393E−26 −1.473570E−25 5.772350E−32 −5.720179E−31 C7 2.828477E−35 −3.381376E−30 7.050051E−29 −1.232729E−36 2.078917E−35 C8 1.430860E−38 2.797022E−34 −9.591943E−33 1.120210E−41 −3.145520E−40 SRF 26 30 31 38 41 K 0 0 0 0 0 C1 −7.826978E−08 1.171952E−07 −8.372229E−08 −4.940289E−08 −1.537092E−08 C2 1.072045E−12 5.982055E−12 1.174253E−12 4.933796E−13 3.778447E−12 C3 4.523977E−16 −1.760506E−16 −2.681026E−16 6.928288E−17 −2.017127E−16 C4 −1.271459E−19 −1.993128E−20 −1.550679E−20 −1.609487E−21 1.881073E−20 C5 3.954232E−23 −9.529811E−24 −1.593859E−24 −7.739698E−26 −2.087789E−24 C6 −1.083373E−26 1.085578E−28 −3.657276E−30 2.774226E−30 1.840295E−28 C7 1.465752E−30 2.273221E−31 2.631779E−32 −1.572253E−36 −9.812256E−33 C8 −8.520650E−35 −2.669719E−35 −7.142431E−36 −4.163468E−40 2.332003E−37

TABLE 12 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 66 1 251.921115 26.62683 SILUV 1.56038308 83.147 2 −989.210896 1 83.812 3 226.732024 32.025623 SILUV 1.56038308 85.26 4 1085.208221 1 83.38 5 128.283517 22.646566 SILUV 1.56038308 80.387 6 88.961725 15.545973 70.501 7 125.835208 59.877475 SILUV 1.56038308 70.846 8 −376.328333 1 65.691 9 291.512418 41.049599 SILUV 1.56038308 60.714 10 −247.107293 6.176611 50.627 11 152.969724 21.192151 SILUV 1.56038308 42.473 12 228.518434 5.482582 43.945 13 1248.660787 43.964726 SILUV 1.56038308 44.944 14 −152.706184 12.818026 54.237 15 −87.366215 15.60332 SILUV 1.56038308 54.983 16 −85.682846 3.636916 59.545 17 −86.526213 23.242695 SILUV 1.56038308 60.097 18 −108.668356 1 69.405 19 −200 16.671044 SILUV 1.56038308 72.006 20 −142.798216 250.765038 74.782 21 −166.718612 −210.765038 REFL 144.311 22 174.284123 264.180115 REFL 134.956 23 285.315103 27.076989 SILUV 1.56038308 95.88 24 1483.882926 52.740402 94.405 25 185.601922 11.999964 SILUV 1.56038308 84.907 26 111.087869 22.323131 81.119 27 1952.941696 12 SILUV 1.56038308 80.86 28 111.206342 58.54433 74.709 29 −126.687949 9.999452 SILUV 1.56038308 76.019 30 −155.19187 1 85.365 31 1585.242523 54.769473 SILUV 1.56038308 95.306 32 −154.387429 1 104.707 33 −348.074244 55.068746 SILUV 1.56038308 113.511 34 −243.634705 1 127.583 35 −1336.659415 41.515446 SILUV 1.56038308 135.024 36 −276.658598 1 137.317 37 435.341885 31.595504 SILUV 1.56038308 136.928 38 −3129.657481 1.00012 136.305 39 2105.975535 44.442342 SILUV 1.56038308 135.677 40 −300.54242 −13.727335 134.991 41 0 14.727335 128.371 42 267.42491 43.877196 SILUV 1.56038308 118.91 43 7074.847026 1 115.781 44 96.288803 41.059596 SILUV 1.56038308 80.776 45 228.69124 1 72.473 46 61.190052 42.233094 SILUV 1.56038308 49.33 47 0 3 WATER 1.437 23.01 48 0 0 16.502

TABLE 12A Aspheric constants SRF 10 19 21 22 26 K 0 0 −0.418696 −0.381372 0 C1 3.04E−07 −2.32E−08 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 −1.87E−07 C2 4.29E−11 2.52E−13 6.76E−15 −3.96E−15 −1.36E−11 C3 −1.17E−14 −8.41E−18 7.47E−20 1.19E−19 −1.96E−16 C4 4.44E−18 −1.26E−20 −4.44E−24 −6.18E−23 −5.50E−21 C5 −1.37E−21 4.90E−25 8.79E−28 5.39E−27 4.78E−24 C6 2.64E−25 −2.31E−28 −4.77E−32 −3.03E−31 −9.08E−28 C7 −4.76E−29 2.58E−32 1.37E−36 9.32E−36 7.93E−32 C8 2.93E−33 −2.18E−36 −1.19E−41 −1.19E−40 −5.07E−36 SRF 30 31 37 40 43 K 0 0 0 0 0 C1 1.24E−07 −6.86E−08 −4.46E−08 −2.05E−09 −8.05E−08 C2 9.26E−12 −4.81E−14 −5.47E−13 1.28E−13 5.05E−12 C3 4.76E−16 7.52E−17 5.21E−17 1.78E−17 −2.49E−16 C4 1.38E−20 −1.74E−20 6.91E−22 −6.14E−22 1.14E−20 C5 −7.47E−24 8.52E−25 −2.40E−26 4.48E−26 −3.40E−25 C6 5.98E−28 −2.23E−29 −2.11E−31 −1.55E−30 2.27E−30 C7 −7.73E−32 −3.06E−33 −2.39E−35 1.88E−35 2.38E−34 C8 7.38E−36 1.25E−37 5.01E−40 −4.01E−40 −5.88E−39

TABLE 13 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 65 1 186.586828 23.414502 SIO2V 1.5607857 83.982 2 597.259215 10.26813 84.106 3 246.448938 35.48684 SIO2V 1.5607857 87.131 4 −495.470793 0.999999 86.762 5 174.29392 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 82.318 6 105.886625 42.974925 75.746 7 298.014263 30.569503 SIO2V 1.5607857 77.754 8 −362.490174 0.999996 77.303 9 197.585289 26.9647 SIO2V 1.5607857 72.92 10 115.191376 6.433657 64.383 11 87.197031 33.092701 SIO2V 1.5607857 63.668 12 −21177.81881 11.342683 59.87 13 170.163316 22.577563 SIO2V 1.5607857 53.888 14 −397.634502 6.245625 50.153 15 −329.557796 25.65494 SIO2V 1.5607857 46.008 16 −440.379282 27.044628 48.461 17 −57.443645 14.999995 SIO2V 1.5607857 48.693 18 −75.393191 18.813359 56.902 19 −65.427115 14.999993 SIO2V 1.5607857 58.809 20 −85.530419 0.099998 69.648 21 −227.629071 32.632252 SIO2V 1.5607857 78.348 22 −113.134147 273.116577 82.743 23 −185.855248 −233.116577 REFL 152.166 24 187.338489 273.423654 REFL 143.116 25 277.370431 23.120389 SIO2V 1.5607857 85.671 26 1042.417218 0.999997 83.965 27 232.607011 22.047511 SIO2V 1.5607857 81.953 28 681.476699 7.231337 79.179 29 −4285.293249 15 SIO2V 1.5607857 78.599 30 110.856061 30.36008 72.288 31 −2955.113107 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 71.211 32 119.488431 40.054646 69.309 33 −194.926507 10 SIO2V 1.5607857 71.047 34 −199.009301 0.999987 77.318 35 7009.414576 51.207677 SIO2V 1.5607857 80.754 36 −165.020018 1 95.379 37 −367.692901 34.170188 SIO2V 1.5607857 103.911 38 −197.86104 1 110.595 39 −660.167042 61.861902 SIO2V 1.5607857 118.204 40 −205.342177 1 126.012 41 465.895739 25.776885 SIO2V 1.5607857 126.361 42 −2628.836635 0.099011 125.541 43 8527.260833 40.948445 SIO2V 1.5607857 125.078 44 −271.386413 0 124.177 45 0 0 112.927 46 243.774903 41.095341 SIO2V 1.5607857 107.874 47 −3313.940195 1 104.66 48 83.350349 42.069771 SIO2V 1.5607857 73.803 49 208.118275 1 66.123 50 55.435689 36.911372 SIO2V 1.5607857 44.754 51 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 22.888 52 0 0 16.254

TABLE 13A Aspheric constants SRF 2 12 13 21 23 K 0 0 0 0 −0.4498 C1 5.14E−08 2.47E−07 6.72E−08 −1.49E−08 0.00E+00 C2 −3.80E−14 3.12E−11 2.44E−11 5.94E−13 −6.07E−16 C3 −1.94E−18 −4.32E−15 1.29E−15 −3.47E−17 −1.49E−19 C4 4.21E−21 1.90E−18 3.61E−19 −4.54E−22 7.27E−24 C5 −7.98E−25 −1.98E−22 5.61E−22 −1.73E−25 −4.02E−28 C6 6.31E−29 2.16E−26 −4.89E−26 3.64E−29 9.03E−33 C7 −2.12E−34 −3.06E−31 1.03E−30 −2.29E−33 −7.65E−38 C8 −1.42E−37 4.40E−34 5.75E−34 1.51E−37 −5.25E−43 SRF 24 30 34 35 41 K −0.304978 0 0 0 0 C1 0.00E+00 −2.20E−07 1.50E−07 −9.41E−08 −6.08E−08 C2 −4.92E−15 −1.47E−11 1.13E−11 −6.32E−13 −6.68E−14 C3 4.31E−20 −6.27E−17 5.33E−16 −4.10E−17 9.32E−17 C4 −3.35E−23 −7.88E−20 5.07E−21 −1.21E−20 1.98E−21 C5 2.63E−27 3.08E−23 −4.57E−24 −2.81E−24 −8.05E−26 C6 −1.39E−31 −5.95E−27 −2.28E−28 8.14E−29 9.24E−32 C7 3.83E−36 6.01E−31 −1.86E−32 5.30E−33 −1.69E−34 C8 −4.49E−41 −2.86E−35 1.72E−35 −2.48E−36 6.17E−39 SRF 44 47 K 0 0 C1 −7.09E−09 −6.42E−08 C2 4.04E−13 4.46E−12 C3 2.36E−17 −2.33E−16 C4 5.85E−22 1.60E−20 C5 −5.55E−26 −7.22E−25 C6 6.24E−30 1.37E−29 C7 −3.15E−34 3.59E−34 C8 5.34E−39 −9.82E−39

TABLE 14 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 65 1 264.155216 53.039363 SIO2V 1.5607857 81.542 2 −708.29109 15.80469 84.656 3 198.655375 49.267177 SIO2V 1.5607857 90.333 4 −296.847851 1.032629 89.02 5 188395.3333 12.000019 SIO2V 1.5607857 83.702 6 102.545536 14.972935 73.983 7 142.785896 38.44762 SIO2V 1.5607857 75.139 8 7336.068136 1 73.713 9 106.928203 12.000081 SIO2V 1.5607857 70.401 10 85.093164 1.641753 64.758 11 76.898689 64.469228 SIO2V 1.5607857 64.84 12 −453690.3967 0.494708 50.446 13 151.681366 18.484685 SIO2V 1.5607857 47.423 14 −363.490767 1.138548 43.25 15 −423.037048 10 SIO2V 1.5607857 43.525 16 513.67606 37.991004 45.761 17 −54.826872 16.135714 SIO2V 1.5607857 48.065 18 −76.475326 2.91112 59.373 19 −235.467293 87.250476 SIO2V 1.5607857 69.466 20 −123.833603 270.153968 91.586 21 −189.904942 −230.153968 REFL 154.818 22 175.052549 279.034717 REFL 138.889 23 584.131276 18.62041 SIO2V 1.5607857 71.907 24 111.389792 27.300612 68.759 25 −1516.326452 12.000002 SIO2V 1.5607857 69.364 26 147.378607 31.451574 73.254 27 −362.020208 12 SIO2V 1.5607857 76.176 28 −208.499815 1.640751 80.458 29 2551.550571 58.800655 SIO2V 1.5607857 89.721 30 −162.566587 1 102.174 31 −596.110808 30.823878 SIO2V 1.5607857 111.779 32 −242.915533 1.000004 115.425 33 −1403.743088 66.546477 SIO2V 1.5607857 119.764 34 −315.509469 1.000866 126.177 35 408.007384 50.326509 SIO2V 1.5607857 125.404 36 −350.602433 1 123.958 37 −1141.174919 18.698745 SIO2V 1.5607857 116.585 38 −446.728577 −3.536343 114.214 39 0 4.536343 109.775 40 159.383791 42.840202 SIO2V 1.5607857 100.406 41 3177.374501 1 97.192 42 78.804469 35.408881 SIO2V 1.5607857 68.008 43 170.008236 1 60.471 44 55.898462 33.213214 SIO2V 1.5607857 42.887 45 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 22.783 46 0 0 16.253

TABLE 14A Aspheric constants SRF 2 12 13 19 21 K 0 0 0 0 −0.447479 C1 3.78E−08 3.57E−07 −5.44E−08 3.83E−08 0.00E+00 C2 2.66E−12 1.96E−11 −2.40E−11 2.56E−13 −5.59E−16 C3 −1.97E−16 6.31E−15 8.87E−15 −2.12E−16 3.43E−19 C4 2.37E−20 −9.55E−19 −7.06E−18 5.73E−21 −3.56E−23 C5 −2.23E−24 −2.55E−22 1.67E−21 −1.00E−24 2.72E−27 C6 1.48E−28 −8.65E−26 −2.22E−25 2.39E−28 −1.16E−31 C7 −9.02E−34 2.04E−29 −1.24E−28 1.26E−32 2.72E−36 C8 −2.19E−37 −1.29E−32 8.07E−33 −1.88E−36 −2.60E−41 SRF 22 24 25 28 29 K −0.269196 0 0 0 0 C1 0.00E+00 −1.90E−07 −1.07E−07 7.94E−08 −4.11E−08 C2 −2.35E−15 −9.95E−12 1.90E−12 3.38E−12 −9.39E−13 C3 4.59E−21 −5.46E−16 −1.31E−16 5.77E−17 −3.94E−17 C4 −1.95E−23 1.36E−20 −8.66E−20 −3.25E−20 7.40E−21 C5 2.32E−27 1.11E−23 6.80E−23 −2.17E−25 −7.50E−24 C6 −1.42E−31 −1.76E−27 −1.45E−26 4.68E−30 1.58E−27 C7 4.52E−36 1.20E−30 3.34E−30 4.57E−32 −1.55E−31 C8 −5.19E−41 −6.74E−35 −2.43E−34 1.76E−36 6.35E−36 SRF 35 38 41 K 0 0 0 C1 −5.52E−08 −1.11E−08 −2.87E−08 C2 2.65E−13 8.65E−13 2.22E−12 C3 8.42E−17 3.74E−17 −1.63E−16 C4 3.45E−21 3.35E−21 2.19E−20 C5 −2.31E−25 −4.18E−25 −1.18E−24 C6 2.28E−31 2.67E−29 −2.24E−29 C7 2.16E−35 −8.47E−34 5.71E−33 C8 2.04E−39 5.77E−39 −1.82E−37

TABLE 15 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 65 1 220.440206 90.193314 SIO2V 1.5607857 82.632 2 −2258.387326 0.099978 86.391 3 191.078269 45.21979 SIO2V 1.5607857 89.197 4 −346.939277 5.038291 87.936 5 −862.704276 11.999955 SIO2V 1.5607857 83.714 6 106.229194 9.360323 75.459 7 124.368852 37.350319 SIO2V 1.5607857 77.121 8 2278.621151 1 75.985 9 130.547812 11.999956 SIO2V 1.5607857 73.073 10 97.147988 1.00002 67.707 11 80.762223 48.20009 SIO2V 1.5607857 67.797 12 −836.844333 0.735286 62.235 13 146.655061 35.349711 SIO2V 1.5607857 56.269 14 −325.682663 5.303246 44.684 15 −237.715704 10 SIO2V 1.5607857 42.717 16 97614.51754 31.113387 44.942 17 −55.878516 25.725119 SIO2V 1.5607857 46.52 18 −84.463856 3.412335 61.171 19 −206.813589 73.554079 SIO2V 1.5607857 68.435 20 −122.996844 265.817443 87.048 21 −188.846432 −225.817443 REFL 158.348 22 170.512895 266.104304 REFL 131.309 23 617.040338 25.358997 SIO2V 1.5607857 77.734 24 −340.978557 1 76.849 25 −575.873317 11.999961 SIO2V 1.5607857 74.709 26 127.056764 29.486792 68.944 27 −919.909026 11.999959 SIO2V 1.5607857 69.382 28 141.247218 33.090673 73.039 29 −327.789177 14.007072 SIO2V 1.5607857 76.032 30 −187.527488 1.002508 80.888 31 1268.298268 66.023641 SIO2V 1.5607857 92.44 32 −172.960759 1 106.476 33 −551.894279 31.122194 SIO2V 1.5607857 114.794 34 −248.493705 2.656579 118.516 35 −5734.547222 50.472484 SIO2V 1.5607857 123.221 36 −350.590281 3.163294 126.143 37 402.358109 43.558538 SIO2V 1.5607857 124.07 38 −381.952357 1 122.788 39 −1074.912987 18.425846 SIO2V 1.5607857 116.413 40 −432.576165 −8.977508 114.127 41 0 9.977508 111.763 42 180.300844 40.797225 SIO2V 1.5607857 101.129 43 6426.19364 1 97.236 44 84.482776 36.262612 SIO2V 1.5607857 70.522 45 215.215262 1 63.323 46 53.879713 33.812201 SIO2V 1.5607857 42.561 47 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 22.774 48 0 0 16.253

TABLE 15A Aspheric constants SRF 2 12 13 19 21 K 0 0 0 0 −0.468594 C1 2.23E−08 1.88E−07 −1.64E−07 1.00E−08 0.00E+00 C2 4.33E−12 2.77E−11 −1.41E−12 −4.07E−13 1.68E−16 C3 −3.03E−16 −4.05E−15 −5.95E−15 −1.03E−16 2.66E−19 C4 2.79E−20 −2.39E−18 −2.18E−18 2.01E−20 −2.52E−23 C5 −3.36E−24 1.40E−21 6.20E−22 −6.52E−24 1.91E−27 C6 2.26E−28 −3.87E−25 −4.85E−26 1.34E−27 −8.03E−32 C7 −2.80E−33 5.49E−29 2.56E−29 −1.27E−31 1.83E−36 C8 −1.73E−37 −3.09E−33 −4.08E−33 5.46E−36 −1.72E−41 SRF 22 25 27 30 31 K −0.258782 0 0 0 0 C1 0.00E+00 1.46E−07 −1.45E−07 6.78E−08 −4.22E−08 C2 −2.25E−15 −1.14E−11 1.44E−11 5.29E−12 −1.13E−13 C3 4.56E−19 1.33E−15 1.58E−16 2.99E−17 −2.12E−16 C4 −7.45E−23 −1.50E−19 −1.60E−19 −3.15E−20 3.70E−20 C5 7.82E−27 7.50E−24 6.20E−23 3.57E−24 −8.27E−24 C6 −4.50E−31 1.43E−28 −1.02E−26 −7.69E−28 1.28E−27 C7 1.44E−35 −1.30E−31 1.65E−30 6.47E−32 −1.13E−31 C8 −1.76E−40 1.14E−35 −1.59E−34 −4.37E−37 4.59E−36 SRF 37 40 43 K 0 0 0 C1 −5.99E−08 −1.37E−08 −2.10E−08 C2 4.92E−13 1.20E−12 1.02E−12 C3 8.41E−17 1.32E−17 −2.69E−18 C4 4.25E−21 5.28E−21 7.37E−21 C5 −2.88E−25 −5.23E−25 −3.90E−25 C6 5.24E−31 2.93E−29 −7.25E−30 C7 5.37E−35 −9.06E−34 1.51E−33 C8 1.09E−39 2.79E−39 −1.24E−38

TABLE 16 SURF RADIUS THICKNESS MATERIAL INDEX SEMIDIAM. 0 0 35 65 1 203.096237 51.348217 SIO2V 1.5607857 84.153 2 −1160.222766 0.099783 85.288 3 181.493677 43.475858 SIO2V 1.5607857 86.58 4 −341.925526 1.005485 84.893 5 −403.858869 11.999746 SIO2V 1.5607857 83.592 6 109.657938 15.898981 74.771 7 164.368819 44.721199 SIO2V 1.5607857 76.185 8 77645.0807 1 75.386 9 95.919438 11.999975 SIO2V 1.5607857 73.703 10 80.656102 5.826329 67.839 11 79.189771 47.039779 SIO2V 1.5607857 68.939 12 −561.553393 0.099927 64.509 13 139.074465 29.669365 SIO2V 1.5607857 60.109 14 −351.160951 9.311808 53.957 15 −473.600856 10 SIO2V 1.5607857 43.672 16 620.385225 33.601754 45.134 17 −52.784435 14.999981 SIO2V 1.5607857 46.152 18 −74.212989 1.001764 56.339 19 −209.153453 84.778236 SIO2V 1.5607857 63.352 20 −130.926715 255.559533 85.589 21 −187.311637 −215.559533 REFL 162.9 22 158.774035 264.523552 REFL 123.289 23 534.325629 42.990891 SIO2V 1.5607857 83.598 24 −461.508523 1 82.714 25 −5934.605843 12.000066 SIO2V 1.5607857 80.886 26 119.705874 28.744512 76.197 27 1519.32587 12.058263 SIO2V 1.5607857 77.6 28 141.843628 31.894192 79.343 29 −915.926476 20.162536 SIO2V 1.5607857 82.206 30 −205.883678 1.152206 86.328 31 10322.23403 66.866508 SIO2V 1.5607857 93.09 32 −181.874156 1 109.763 33 −421.7412 53.839358 SIO2V 1.5607857 117.145 34 −248.466964 0.999941 128.448 35 −1926.967116 32.001083 SIO2V 1.5607857 134.375 36 −368.835919 1.852034 135.911 37 354.164031 52.480694 SIO2V 1.5607857 136.137 38 −368.63102 1 135.137 39 −828.73625 11.784388 SIO2V 1.5607857 126.567 40 −810.714199 2.572951 124.051 41 0 −1.572951 118.262 42 154.167114 46.690534 SIO2V 1.5607857 107.326 43 9845.921815 1 104.915 44 90.785618 33.664668 SIO2V 1.5607857 74.672 45 224.183877 1 69.281 46 52.291327 34.416469 SIO2V 1.5607857 43.665 47 0 3 H2OV193 1.43667693 24.683 48 0 0 16.256

TABLE 16A Aspheric constants SRF 2 12 13 19 21 K 0 0 0 0 −0.448249 C1 8.02E−09 2.78E−07 −1.35E−07 3.82E−08 0.00E+00 C2 4.20E−12 3.61E−11 7.65E−12 4.03E−15 −6.31E−16 C3 −3.80E−16 −3.72E−15 −3.60E−15 −2.87E−16 3.14E−19 C4 1.06E−20 −7.33E−19 −1.74E−18 −4.72E−20 −2.63E−23 C5 9.90E−25 5.93E−22 5.77E−22 4.58E−23 1.70E−27 C6 −1.56E−28 −1.48E−25 4.63E−26 −1.86E−26 −6.12E−32 C7 1.90E−32 2.05E−29 −1.32E−29 3.54E−30 1.22E−36 C8 −9.78E−37 −1.01E−33 −4.75E−35 −2.52E−34 −1.00E−41 SRF 22 25 27 30 31 K −0.301702 0 0 0 0 C1 0.00E+00 1.70E−07 −1.21E−07 4.69E−08 −4.37E−08 C2 −1.93E−15 −1.40E−11 1.82E−11 4.01E−12 −6.80E−13 C3 −1.03E−18 1.35E−15 6.67E−16 −2.83E−17 −2.42E−16 C4 1.15E−22 −2.19E−19 8.15E−20 −6.69E−22 3.15E−20 C5 −7.31E−27 1.48E−23 3.45E−24 4.14E−24 −5.56E−24 C6 1.26E−31 −6.97E−28 3.08E−27 −1.25E−27 3.74E−28 C7 8.96E−36 −7.36E−32 −5.45E−31 1.44E−31 −9.55E−33 C8 −2.90E−40 1.12E−35 1.66E−35 −6.05E−36 −7.20E−37 SRF 37 40 43 K 0 0 0 C1 −5.26E−08 −3.16E−08 7.85E−10 C2 1.78E−13 1.40E−12 6.39E−13 C3 6.38E−17 −1.09E−17 −1.45E−17 C4 3.79E−21 6.35E−21 3.10E−21 C5 −1.89E−25 −5.33E−25 3.20E−25 C6 −3.40E−31 2.59E−29 −5.68E−29 C7 1.88E−35 −6.08E−34 3.00E−33 C8 1.27E−39 8.73E−40 −3.92E−38

TABLE 17 FIG. λ NA Yobj OAL1/mm OAL3/mm MG 2 193 1.2 66 430.04 548.46 0.78 4 193 1.2 66 450.79 582.74 0.77 7 193 1.2 66 466.38 574.00 0.81 9 193 1.2 66 460.81 591.60 0.78 10 193 1.2 66 500.44 518.13 0.97 11 193 1.2 66 489.34 534.12 0.92 12 193 1.3 66 425.56 613.66 0.69 13 193 1.3 65 472.62 544.26 0.87 14 193 1.3 65 513.08 498.55 1.03 15 193 1.3 65 521.66 502.53 1.04 16 193 1.35 65 492.88 541.56 0.91

TABLE 18 R_(LL)/ FIG. λ NA Yobj T_(LL)/mm mm DIA_(LL)/mm LL1 LL2 2 193 1.2 66 49.61 31.48 75.96 1.58 2.41 4 193 1.2 66 50.00 29.33 73.75 1.70 2.51 7 193 1.2 66 87.43 40.06 100.36 2.18 2.51 9 193 1.2 66 77.07 38.57 95.24 2.00 2.47 10 193 1.2 66 72.15 41.29 96.69 1.75 2.34 11 193 1.2 66 67.79 39.96 92.98 1.70 2.33 12 193 1.3 66 61.19 42.23 98.47 1.45 2.33 13 193 1.3 65 55.44 36.91 89.08 1.50 2.41 14 193 1.3 65 55.90 33.21 85.45 1.68 2.57 15 193 1.3 65 53.88 33.81 84.84 1.59 2.51 16 193 1.35 65 52.29 34.42 87.11 1.52 2.53

TABLE 19 FIG. λ NA Yobj COMP1 COMP2 COMP3 N1AS N2AS ASR 2 193 1.2 66 9.18 138 46 0 1 0 4 193 1.2 66 9.29 149 50 0 1 0 7 193 1.2 66 10.6 244 81 2 5 0.40 9 193 1.2 66 10.6 232 77 1 5 0.20 10 193 1.2 66 9.52 219 73 0 5 0 11 193 1.2 66 9.34 215 72 3 5 0.60 12 193 1.3 66 9.70 233 78 2 6 0.33 13 193 1.3 65 9.08 236 79 4 6 0.67 14 193 1.3 65 9.03 208 69 4 7 0.57 15 193 1.3 65 8.94 214 72 4 7 0.57 16 193 1.35 65 9.11 218 73 4 7 0.57

TABLE 20 f3(L1 . . . 2)/ f3(L1 . . . 2)/ FIG. β2 β3 mm mm AS-IS/TT CRA(M)/° 2 0.868 0.168 −150.018 0.172 61.23 4 0.942 0.166 −212.248 0.104 62.77 7 0.869 0.171 −441.036 0.146 61.08 9 0.969 0.168 −388.381 0.123 62.95 10 0.960 0.154 −274.736 0.128 62.27 11 1.009 0.147 −249.046 0.137 64.57 12 1.286 0.122 −247.036 0.118 70.75 13 1.190 0.117 −712.866 0.100 68.88 14 1.045 0.126 −114.534 0.097 69.2 15 1.044 0.129 −368.766 0.101 69.3 16 0.991 0.134 −430.318 0.095 71.21

TABLE 21 FIG. K7 K7a DIA₃₁/DIA_(AS) K9 K10 K11 CBA1/° CBA3/° DIA_(AS)/DIA_(P1) 2 Y Y 0.833 Y Y N 4.62 7.45 2.135 4 Y Y 1.050 Y Y N 2.17 7.17 1.448 7 N Y 0.709 Y Y Y 1.08 0.88 3.349 9 N Y 0.792 Y Y Y 1.32 1.04 2.837 10 N Y 0.746 Y Y N 3.49 1.68 2.539 11 N Y 0.789 Y Y N 3.25 1.09 2.534 12 N Y 0.746 Y Y Y 7.11 1.42 3.086 13 N Y 0.758 Y Y Y 5.29 1.62 2.188 14 Y Y 0.667 Y Y Y 4.04 4.75 2.007 15 Y Y 0.695 Y Y Y 5.28 2.80 2.353 16 Y Y 0.722 Y Y Y 6.60 2.29 1.950 

1. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object plane of the projection objective onto an image plane of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object plane into a first intermediate image; a second objective part including at least one concave mirror for imaging the first intermediate imaging into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate imaging onto the image plane; wherein: the projection objective has a maximum lens diameter D_(max), a maximum image field height Y′, and an image side numerical aperture NA; wherein COMP1=D _(max)/(Y′·NA ²) and wherein the following condition holds: COMP1<10.
 2. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein NA>1.2.
 3. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and at least one second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface are arranged in the second objective part; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; and all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface.
 4. Projection objective according to claim 1, having a number N_(L) of lenses and a number N_(OP) of imaging objective parts concatenated at intermediate images; where COMP2=D _(max) ·N _(L)/(Y′·NA ²) COMP3=D _(max) N _(L)/(N _(OP) ·Y′·NA ²); and wherein at least one of the following condition holds: COMP2<300 COMP3<100.
 5. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein the projection objective includes at least one double asphere comprising a first aspheric surface and a second aspheric surface immediately adjacent to the first aspheric surface.
 6. Projection objective according to claim 5, wherein the double asphere is formed by facing adjacent aspheric surfaces of two subsequent lenses.
 7. Projection objective according to claim 6, wherein a distance, measured along the optical axis, between the first and second aspheric surface of the double asphere is smaller than a thickness, measured along the optical axis, of the thinner of two lenses forming the double asphere.
 8. Projection objective according to claim 6, wherein the third objective part includes at least one double asphere.
 9. Projection objective according to claim 8, wherein the double asphere is positioned optically between the second intermediate image and the pupil surface of the third objective part.
 10. Projection objective according to claim 6, wherein the first objective part includes at least one double asphere.
 11. Projection objective according to claim 10, wherein the double asphere is positioned optically close to or at a pupil surface of the first objective part.
 12. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein the first objective part and the third objective part each include at least one double asphere formed by facing adjacent aspheric surfaces of two subsequent lenses.
 13. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein the first objective part includes at least one lens having a lens surface where angles of incidence of rays transiting that lens surface include angles of incidence larger than 60°.
 14. Projection objective according to claim 13, wherein that lens surface is positioned optically close to the pupil surface
 15. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein an axial mirror-lens distance between a first lens of the third objective part and a vertex of a mirror geometrically nearest to that lens is more than 5% of an axial distance between the object surface OS and the image surface IS.
 16. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein all concave mirrors have an aspheric mirror surface.
 17. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein the first objective part and the second objective part and the third objective part share a common straight optical axis.
 18. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein an aperture stop is positioned in the third objective part between a region of maximum beam diameter and the image surface in a region of a converging beam.
 19. Projection objective according to claim 1, wherein the projection objective has a last lens closest to the image surface, the last lens being is a piano-convex positive lens having a curved entry surface and a planar exit surface, where T_(LL) is the axial distance between the entry surface and the exit surface measured along an optical axis, R_(LL) is the curvature radius of the entry surface, and DIA_(LL) is the optically free diameter of the entry surface of the last lens; where LL1=T_(LL)/R_(LL) and LL2=DIA_(LL)/R_(LL) and wherein at least one of the following condition holds: 0.46≦LL1≦0.69  (1) 1.15≦LL2≦1.67.  (2)
 20. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object surface of the projection objective onto an image surface of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object surface into a first intermediate image; a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image surface; wherein the second objective part includes a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and a second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface; the first objective part has a first number N1_(AS) of aspheric lenses; the third objective part has a second number N3_(AS) of aspheric lenses; an aspheric lens ratio ASR=N1_(AS)/N3_(AS) is smaller than 1; and an image side numerical aperture NA is larger than 1.2.
 21. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object surface of the projection objective onto an image surface of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object surface into a first intermediate image; a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image surface; wherein the second objective part includes a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and a second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface; the first objective part has a first number N1_(AS) of aspheric lenses; the third objective part has a second number N3_(AS) of aspheric lenses; an aspheric lens ratio ASR=N1_(AS)/N3_(AS) is smaller than 0.5.
 22. Projection objective according to claim 21, wherein the condition NA≦1.2 holds for an image side numerical aperture NA.
 23. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object surface of the projection objective onto an image surface of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object surface into a first intermediate image; a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image surface; wherein the second objective part includes a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and a second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface; the first objective part has a first number N1_(AS) of aspheric lenses; and wherein the condition N1_(AS)<3 holds.
 24. Projection objective according to claim 23, wherein the third objective part has a second number N3_(AS) of aspheric lenses; and an aspheric lens ratio ASR=N1_(AS)/N3_(AS) is smaller than
 1. 25. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object plane of the projection objective onto an image plane of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object plane into a first intermediate image; a second objective part including at least one concave mirror for imaging the first intermediate imaging into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate imaging onto the image plane; wherein: the projection objective has a maximum lens diameter D_(max), a maximum image field height Y′, an image side numerical aperture NA>1.2, a number N_(L) of lenses and a number N_(OP) of imaging objective parts concatenated at intermediate images; wherein COMP1=D _(max)/(Y′·NA ²) COMP2=D _(max) ·N _(L)/(Y′·NA ²) COMP3=D _(max) ·N _(L)/(N _(OP) ·Y′·NA ²); and wherein at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled COMP1<11 COMP2<300 COMP3<100.
 26. Projection objective according to claim 25, wherein COMP1<11 and COMP2<300.
 27. Projection objective according to claim 25, wherein COMP1<11 and COMP2<300 and COMP3<100.
 28. Projection objective according to claim 25, wherein a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and at least one second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface are arranged in the second objective part; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; and all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface.
 29. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object plane of the projection objective onto an image plane of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object plane into a first intermediate image; a second objective part including at least one concave mirror for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate imaging onto the image plane; wherein an aperture stop is positioned in the third objective part between a region of maximum beam diameter and the image surface in a region of a converging beam; and wherein only three positive lenses are placed between the aperture stop and the image surface.
 30. Projection objective according to claim 29, wherein a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and at least one second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface are arranged in the second objective part; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; and all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface.
 31. A catadioptric projection objective for imaging a pattern provided in an object surface of the projection objective onto an image surface of the projection objective comprising: a first, refractive objective part for imaging the pattern provided in the object surface into a first intermediate image; a second objective part for imaging the first intermediate image into a second intermediate image; a third, refractive objective part for imaging the second intermediate image onto the image surface; wherein the second objective part includes a first concave mirror having a first continuous mirror surface and a second concave mirror having a second continuous mirror surface; pupil surfaces are formed between the object plane and the first intermediate image, between the first and the second intermediate image and between the second intermediate image and the image plane; all concave mirrors are arranged optically remote from a pupil surface; wherein a first optical axis length OAL1 is defined between the object surface and a vertex of a concave mirror geometrically closest to the object surface, and a third optical axis length OAL3 is defined between a vertex of a concave mirror geometrically closest to the image surface and the image surface; and wherein the condition MG>0.7 holds for a mirror group position parameter MG=OAL1/OAL3.
 32. Projection objective according to claim 31, wherein MG≧0.8.
 33. A projection-exposure system for use in microlithography having an illumination system and a catadioptric projection objective, wherein the projection objective is configured according to claim
 1. 34. A method for fabricating semiconductor devices or other types of micro devices, comprising: providing a mask having a prescribed pattern; illuminating the mask with ultraviolet light having a prescribed wavelength; and projecting an image of the pattern onto a photosensitive substrate arranged in the vicinity of the image plane of a projection objective using a catadioptric projection objective according to of claim
 1. 